When you’re talking about ancient cities that now reside on the ocean floor, there are a few that are very well known.
Alexandria, for a real one, and Atlantis, if you’re going mythological.
Most people haven’t heard of Pavlopetri, but most experts say it’s actually the oldest sunken city in the world.
It was in the Peloponnesus region of southern Greece, just off southern Laconia, around 5,000 years ago – around the time of Homer’s tales.
A geologist called Folkion Negris first discovered the sunken remains in 1904, then they were rediscovered in Nicholas Flemming in 1967.
He returned to the site in 1968 with a group of Cambridge archaeologists and spent six weeks surveying the site.
They produced a plan of the city, which they estimated covers 980 feet by 490 feet and contains 15 separate buildings, courtyards, five streets, two tombs, and around 37 graves.
The underwater city continues onto the island of Pavlopetri, where they found remains of walls and other archaeological materials.
They recovered artifacts like pottery, blades of obsidian, and bronze figurines from the seabed, all of which they estimated were made between 2800-1180 BCE.
The buildings were newer, built around 1650-1180 BCE.
In 2009, a joint team of researchers from the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, the Hellenic Centre for Maritime Research, and the University of Nottingham embarked on a five-year-project returning to the site.
They began their research with a new survey, hoping to gain insights into Pavlopetri’s history through a new map and physical excavations.
The survey revealed an additional 97,000 square feet of buildings, including a rectangular hall, along a street.
They also found more graves and a pithos burial, in which large potteries are used to preserve bodies before cremation.
Among the buildings were also new ceramics confirming Mycenaean habitation, along with evidence that the city was occupied through the Bronze Age, from around 3000 BCE to 1100 BCE.
They estimate between 500-2,000 people lived in the city.
They don’t know yet what caused the city to end up at the bottom of the ocean, but there is some speculation it was the result of an earthquake that happened in 1000 BCE or 375 CE.
Pavlopetri sunk before Plato ever wrote about Atlantis, which means it could have been the inspiration for the legend that ensued.
We’ll probably never know about that, but thanks to this new expedition, we did learn a whole lot more about what’s down there.
If you think that’s impressive, check out this story about a “goldmine” of lithium that was found in the U.S. that could completely change the EV battery game.