Archaeologists studying the world’s oldest underwater city have discovered pottery from the late Neolithic period. Their results suggest that   Pavlopetri   , off the southern coast of Laconia in Greece, was inhabited around 5,000 years ago, at least 1,200 years earlier than originally thought.

These astonishing discoveries were made public by the Greek government following the launch of a five-year collaborative project involving the Greek Ministry of Culture’s Underwater Archaeological Institute and the University of Nottingham.

As a Mycenaean city, this site offers new insights into the workings of Mycenaean society. Pavlopetri is even more important because it was a maritime settlement where the local population coordinated local and long-distance trade.

The aim of the   Pavropetli Underwater Archaeology Project is to find out exactly when this site was inhabited, what it was used for and how the city was flooded, through a systematic study of the topography of the area.

This summer, the research team conducted a detailed underwater digital survey of the structural ruins, which until this year were believed   to date back to the Mycenaean period   between 1600 and 1000 B.C.

This study exceeded all expectations. The survey uncovered an additional 150 square meters of new buildings and pottery, suggesting that the site dates back to at least 2,800 BC. BC to the Bronze Age was inhabited. C to 1100 BC Cr. C.

The research is being carried out by a multidisciplinary team led by Elias Spondiris, head of underwater archaeology at the Greek Ministry of Culture, and underwater archaeologist Dr John Henderson from the School of Archaeology at the University of Nottingham.

Dr. John Henderson said: “This site is unique because it has an almost perfect urban plan, with avenues, residential buildings, courtyards, rock-cut tombs and religious structures clearly visible on the seabed. It is a port settlement. , the study of archaeology.” The materials we recovered are of great importance in revealing how maritime trade was conducted and managed during the Bronze Age.

Perhaps one of the most important discoveries was the identification of a megaron (a large rectangular fragment) from the Early Bronze Age. They also discovered a new building over 150 meters long, including a colonnaded cellar, the first ever discovered in mainland Greece. Two new stone tombs were also discovered next to a pithos burial from the Middle Bronze Age.

Spondiris said: “This is a rare and important discovery because it represents a frozen moment in the past, as it is a flooded site that has never been reused.”

Archaeology Coordinator Dr Crisanti Garrow is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Nottingham and an expert in Aegean prehistory and Laconian archaeology.

Dr Garrow said: “The new pottery discoveries form an excellent and comprehensive corpus covering all sub-phases from the Late Neolithic (mid-4th millennium BC) to the end of the Late Bronze Age (1100 BC).”

In addition, there was   great interest from the local Laconian community.

“Studying in   Pavlopetri   offers an excellent opportunity to actively participate in the preservation and management of the site and thus in the development of culture and tourism throughout the region.”

The team included Dr Nicholas Fleming, a marine geoarchaeologist from the University of Southampton’s Institute of Marine Research. He discovered the site in 1967 and returned the following year with a team from Cambridge University to carry out the first survey of the flooded city.

Using just a snorkel and a tape measure, they created a detailed plan of the prehistoric city, which included at least 15 different buildings, courtyards, streets, two-chambered tombs and at least 37 cist graves.

Despite Pavlopetri’s potential international importance, no further work has been carried out at the site until this year.

With the approval of the British School of Archaeology at Athens, the Pavlopetri Underwater Archaeology Project began a five-year investigation of the site with the aim of uncovering the history and development of Pavlopetri.