16th International Symposium on Boat & Ship Archaeology

114 16 th International Symposium on Boat & Ship Archaeology Spanos Stefanos Greek archaeological service Athens, Greece, Paros excavations Ship representations on Mycenaean pottery. The rare depiction of a shipwreck from Koukounaries on Paros The fall of the Mycenaean palaces marked a radical change in the geopolitical map of prehistoric Greece. The excavations showed that immediately after the destruction of the Mycenaean centers on mainland Greece, a group of Myce- naean refugees fled to Paros, where they occupied a hill that they turned into a Mycenaean acropolis. A period of prosperity followed, as various finds have shown, such as ivory, rock crystal, bronze, painted pottery from the Late Helladic IIIC Middle period. A deep bowl (skyphos) from this period from Koukounaries offers a rare representation of a ship. A band runs around the edge on the inside. Outside, a ship is depicted upside down. It is a rare depiction of a Mycenaean shipwreck. The ship of Paros can be compared to the representation of a ship from Skyros and a second representation of a ship from Tragana. The bow is curved like on these two ships. The sail is billowed by the wind. The depiction is more reminiscent of a shipwreck scene like that on the north wall of the great temple of Medinet Habu. Finds from Koukounaries on Paros show that the collapse of the Mycenaean palaces on the mainland was followed by a period of prosperity based on the revival of the arts and commerce. Luxury finds from Paros show that Koukounaries had important overseas connections with the Cyclades Islands, which are at the crossroads of sea trade with Asia Minor, Egypt, Syria, Cyprus and Crete.