0:00:06 > 0:00:09Off the southern coast of mainland Greece,
0:00:09 > 0:00:10lie the ruins of a city,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13founded over 5,000 years ago.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18It seems to be an incredibly advanced culture here.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21People were living in buildings with two storeys,
0:00:21 > 0:00:24they had flushing toilets, they had drainage systems,
0:00:24 > 0:00:26they had the beginnings of writing.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33This city thrived for 2,000 years during the time that saw
0:00:33 > 0:00:37the birth of western civilisation.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40Pavlopetri is one of the first places in Europe where
0:00:40 > 0:00:43we begin to see buildings and streets
0:00:43 > 0:00:46and people living side-by-side in a way of life
0:00:46 > 0:00:48that we would recognise today.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53But then the city vanished, consumed by the sea.
0:00:55 > 0:00:56Now an international team,
0:00:56 > 0:01:00led by underwater archaeologist Jon Henderson
0:01:00 > 0:01:05has come to unlock the secrets of this mysterious sunken city.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10A really exciting find. This is great.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16Using the latest 21st century technologies,
0:01:16 > 0:01:19they plan to digitally rebuild the city,
0:01:19 > 0:01:20stone by stone.
0:01:23 > 0:01:28This is maybe just a little glimpse of prehistoric suburbia.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35Thought to be the oldest submerged city in the world,
0:01:35 > 0:01:39now, for the first time, the secrets will be revealed
0:01:39 > 0:01:43of Pavlopetri,
0:01:43 > 0:01:45the City Beneath The Waves.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02For Nottingham University archaeologist Dr Jon Henderson,
0:02:02 > 0:02:04the sunken city of Pavlopetri
0:02:04 > 0:02:07provides a unique glimpse into a lost world.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13The site itself just begins a few metres off the coast here
0:02:13 > 0:02:15and that's a very rare thing.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18In a way, this is like an underwater Pompeii,
0:02:18 > 0:02:20it's a settlement frozen in time.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25The city dates to the Bronze Age,
0:02:25 > 0:02:27over 3,000 years ago.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33This was the time of Troy, King Agamemnon
0:02:33 > 0:02:35and Homer's Odyssey.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40You've got one line of stones going up there
0:02:40 > 0:02:42and you've got another line of stones going up there.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47This is one of the main streets of Pavlopetri.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53People walked down here, this was a busy street.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57On this side you just have a wall,
0:02:57 > 0:02:58but on this side here,
0:02:58 > 0:03:01we actually have a range of houses,
0:03:01 > 0:03:03a range of domestic dwellings.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09The Bronze Age was a time of great change,
0:03:09 > 0:03:13when people started living in towns for the first time,
0:03:13 > 0:03:17with trade and exchange of cultures and ideas.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24Pavlopetri is a blueprint for our own way of life.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29This was a place that was a thriving city where people used to live.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34You get a sense of some sort of major drama has happened,
0:03:34 > 0:03:36a major catastrophe.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40It's quite an eerie feeling.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46Located just off the coast of Laconia,
0:03:46 > 0:03:49in the southern Peloponnese,
0:03:49 > 0:03:53this area is prone to violent earthquakes and tsunamis.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Coastal towns have always faced a constant threat.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00I want to know what happened to the city of Pavlopetri.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02I want to know who was living here,
0:04:02 > 0:04:04I want to know what they were doing,
0:04:04 > 0:04:08I want to know why they left, I want to know why it's under water now.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11I want to make that immediate connection with people
0:04:11 > 0:04:14and just get a brief insight, even just for a moment,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17of what it was like to live in those times in the Bronze Age.
0:04:20 > 0:04:21To answer these questions
0:04:21 > 0:04:25and learn about the origins of our own way of life,
0:04:25 > 0:04:29Jon wants to try and recreate the city in every detail.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34He's flown in a team from Sydney University,
0:04:34 > 0:04:37led by Oscar Pizzaro
0:04:37 > 0:04:39and Matt Johnson Roberson.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43They've brought with them prototype mapping devices to create
0:04:43 > 0:04:46three-dimensional surveys of the site.
0:04:48 > 0:04:49This idea of using
0:04:49 > 0:04:513D reconstruction is a very new thing for archaeology
0:04:51 > 0:04:54From that perspective it's exciting for us.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58Working alongside the scientists,
0:04:58 > 0:05:02Jon has also invited movie visual effects expert Simon Clarke.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05So this is not too far off, then...
0:05:05 > 0:05:07He wants him to try to digitally recreate Pavlopetri,
0:05:07 > 0:05:11using the actual archaeological data.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Our role is basically to try and recreate the finds,
0:05:15 > 0:05:17to recreate the buildings and then hopefully
0:05:17 > 0:05:22to give a fantastic impression of what the city would have once looked like.
0:05:24 > 0:05:25Working in collaboration with
0:05:25 > 0:05:29a team from the Greek Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32they've been granted a three-week permit to complete their work.
0:05:39 > 0:05:40After a year of planning,
0:05:40 > 0:05:44the archaeologists head out for the first dive of the expedition.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54The first step to understanding what life was like in Pavlopetri
0:05:54 > 0:05:56thousands of years ago,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59is to search for items the inhabitants left behind.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09This is part of a bowl.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11A Bronze Age bowl.
0:06:12 > 0:06:17Maybe for cooking your soup, your lentil stew in.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21The team get help from the sea itself.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24The shifting underwater currents naturally excavate the site,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27constantly bringing new artefacts to the surface.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34Part of a rather nice jug there.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36For pouring water or pouring wine.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45Every object they find is photographed,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48before it's labelled and bagged.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54Its location is then recorded using a pole with a prism on top
0:06:54 > 0:06:57which reflects back a laser beam
0:06:57 > 0:06:59sent out by a land-based ranging device.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06With their knowledge of artefacts from other sites,
0:07:06 > 0:07:10the archaeologists immediately have an idea of what the objects
0:07:10 > 0:07:13might be and even how they were used.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18See, that is quite a nice find.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20We've got a base of a bowl.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24It had a bowl coming up here. It's quite finely made.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29Probably one of the better pieces that you bring out
0:07:29 > 0:07:31when your guests come round.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36It takes a highly-trained eye to make out
0:07:36 > 0:07:38some of the more obscure artefacts.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46This is how they would have ground their grain or ground their lentils.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49They would have got a rounded stone
0:07:49 > 0:07:50and just ground the grain down,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53grinding cereals,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55grinding pulses for food.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00This is just a general domestic item. But that's nice.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12With all the finds bagged and tagged,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16they are sent off to the processing area back at base camp.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26As part of his role to create a detailed
0:08:26 > 0:08:29view of life in Pavlopetri,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32visual effects supervisor Simon Clarke
0:08:32 > 0:08:35wants to rebuild some of the key finds from the site.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41Using a laser scanner, he can digitally capture
0:08:41 > 0:08:44the exact 3D structure and surface textures of each sherd.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52We've got something which is totally real
0:08:52 > 0:08:55so we are making our pot, when we reconstruct it,
0:08:55 > 0:08:57as scientifically accurate as we possibly can.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Using the laser scans, the visual effects team can now start to
0:09:03 > 0:09:06reconstruct some of the ancient artefacts.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13They've sought guidance from Jon's finds expert, Dr Chrysanthi Gallou.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18This is an open vessel,
0:09:18 > 0:09:22we can say so because it is decorated in the interior.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26This looks quite thick here. Would that be the thickness all the way through?
0:09:26 > 0:09:29No, I would guess like it gets a little bit opening here
0:09:29 > 0:09:32and then get thinner as we move up.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37Even the simplest of artefacts can be hard to recognise at first.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42- I don't think it's like that! - Whoops!
0:09:42 > 0:09:44The neck should be higher.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Yeah, I mean, so these shapes now look very familiar.
0:09:46 > 0:09:51Definitely. The same needs bring the same shapes.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55By rebuilding the finds,
0:09:55 > 0:09:59the team can start peering into the everyday lives of the inhabitants.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02The simple cooking wares used for soups.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08The fine crockery that was brought out for guests.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10These were fired at high temperatures to give
0:10:10 > 0:10:13a resounding clink when struck together.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19And for very special occasions, including funeral rites,
0:10:19 > 0:10:23they used a large two-handled goblet known as a kylix.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36The site is actually just strewn with pottery.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38This is the table wares they used.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41It's high status vessels they used when they had guests round for tea.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45It's the vessels they used to make offerings towards the gods.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48We can touch the people of the past through touching their pottery.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52Many of the pieces found from the site are coming from
0:10:52 > 0:10:55what is known as the Mycenaean period,
0:10:55 > 0:10:59dating from 1600 to 1100BC.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07The Mycenaeans were a warrior people
0:11:07 > 0:11:09led by wealthy and powerful rulers,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12like the legendary King Agamemnon.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17At the heart of their civilisation was a network
0:11:17 > 0:11:19of hilltop fortresses.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22The most famous was at Mycenae.
0:11:27 > 0:11:28Legend has it
0:11:28 > 0:11:30that these walls were so huge
0:11:30 > 0:11:34they were built by one-eyed giants, the Cyclops,
0:11:34 > 0:11:36since no mere mortal could have built them.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41From their network of fortresses,
0:11:41 > 0:11:45they used their military might to control trade throughout this whole region of Greece.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51Trade that would have passed through harbour towns,
0:11:51 > 0:11:53like the one at Pavlopetri.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00But unlike the well-documented city of Mycenae,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03no mention has been found for a port at Pavlopetri.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10It lay forgotten under the waves for over 3,000 years
0:12:10 > 0:12:12until it was discovered purely by chance.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22In 1967, oceanographer Dr Nic Fleming was
0:12:22 > 0:12:25working along the coastline, searching for ancient harbours,
0:12:25 > 0:12:28when he stumbled upon the ruins.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34I looked at these rows of stones and I just had no idea what it was
0:12:34 > 0:12:38but I realised, immediately, that it was man-made,
0:12:38 > 0:12:41that we were looking at a large part of a town.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44And, I mean, I just went crazy.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48I grabbed my plastic board and started scribbling
0:12:48 > 0:12:49and drawing and everything.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53I had been arrogant enough when I was in Athens
0:12:53 > 0:12:55to write in the visitors' book,
0:12:55 > 0:12:59"Gone south to look for Bronze Age harbours."
0:12:59 > 0:13:00So, here we were in the south,
0:13:00 > 0:13:03and we'd found a Bronze Age harbour.
0:13:03 > 0:13:04So I was very pleased!
0:13:06 > 0:13:10The following year, Nic returned to the site with
0:13:10 > 0:13:12a group of students from Cambridge University.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19Armed with just tape measures and pencils,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22the group attempted to survey the site for the first time.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27I mean, all surveying tapes were sort of canvas,
0:13:27 > 0:13:29but they weren't really waterproof.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32You took them in the water and it started to stretch and fray.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39Things were measured with tape and string simply to triangulate,
0:13:39 > 0:13:41measure the two sides of a triangle
0:13:41 > 0:13:45off the baseline, and gradually build up the map.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47Using basic techniques,
0:13:47 > 0:13:52the university team created the very first survey map of Pavlopetri.
0:13:54 > 0:13:59The town appeared to consist of 15 buildings located off two main streets,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03with an area extending to just under four football pitches.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07Here you've got rows of houses on a street.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10The preservation is incredible.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12There is absolutely nothing like it.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18Since the 1960s, no-one has done any further survey work
0:14:18 > 0:14:20on this important site.
0:14:20 > 0:14:21Until now.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28To get an idea of the full extent of the ruins
0:14:28 > 0:14:30and the area where the city once stood,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33Jon is taking to the sky.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51This is the first time he's seen Pavlopetri from the air.
0:14:52 > 0:14:57Woah! Ha ha. I'm glad I didn't eat now!
0:15:02 > 0:15:06Many of the buildings that Nic surveyed in the '60s can be seen.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08But beyond the original mapped area,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11something catches Jon's eye.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16I think I can see new buildings just off Pavlopetri island.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22And I can see lines of what I think are buildings,
0:15:22 > 0:15:26square lines - that makes the site much, much bigger.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29It's bigger now to the north and bigger to the south,
0:15:29 > 0:15:32so that's a pretty major discovery.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37From his high vantage point,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40Jon starts to see how the city could have operated as a harbour.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44You would have had ships coming in,
0:15:44 > 0:15:49trading through the whole of the eastern Mediterranean, trading with people of this city.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53The site would have been sitting right at the entrance of a sandy bay
0:15:53 > 0:15:57and that would have been an ideal location for beaching ships.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00That was what a Bronze Age harbour was,
0:16:00 > 0:16:02a protected sandy bay.
0:16:05 > 0:16:06It's incredibly exciting
0:16:06 > 0:16:09because it's suddenly putting the site in context.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14Jon also spots clues which could help work out how the city
0:16:14 > 0:16:17succumbed to its watery grave.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22The other exciting thing that we've seen is old shore lines,
0:16:22 > 0:16:27and this is perhaps a clue as to how the site went under water.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32So the city is bigger than originally thought
0:16:32 > 0:16:34and was located in the perfect spot for a harbour.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39But to understand how it functioned as a whole,
0:16:39 > 0:16:41Jon is keen to start a detailed survey.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Rather than string and tape measures,
0:16:53 > 0:16:58he's bringing underwater archaeology into the 21st century.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02You'll see this whole range of buildings there....
0:17:02 > 0:17:05The team of scientists from Sydney University have been
0:17:05 > 0:17:09researching ways to produce a 3D photo map of the sea floor.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15They've built a prototype push-along device called a diver rig.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17The diver rig is basically just a surfboard with
0:17:17 > 0:17:19a pair of cameras mounted on it.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22So the same way you can use your left and your right eye
0:17:22 > 0:17:24to figure out the distance of things,
0:17:24 > 0:17:26the diver rig uses two cameras to figure out
0:17:26 > 0:17:28the distance to rocks on the sea floor.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31So from that we can build up a 3D model of all the stones on the site
0:17:31 > 0:17:33just using those two pictures.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36It allows you to feel like you're actually there,
0:17:36 > 0:17:38sitting on the bottom.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44Pushed back and forth over the survey area,
0:17:44 > 0:17:48the rig takes thousands of digital photos of the sea floor.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53Harsh shadows caused by bright overhead sunlight were
0:17:53 > 0:17:57confusing the software, so the work is carried out at dusk.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01The first results are very promising.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07We imaged the side and the edge of a very small building in the site
0:18:07 > 0:18:09just to see if we could see the individual stones.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12And it's really exciting because we actually could.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15If you look here you can see, we can count the individual rocks
0:18:15 > 0:18:18which build up the foundation of this building.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20It's a really unique look under the sea.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24The equivalent of draining the ocean, taking pictures and filling it back up.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29Using the push-along rig,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32they continue to survey key parts of the site.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36But to be able to map the whole city,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39including the new buildings Jon saw from the air,
0:18:39 > 0:18:43the Australian team have been developing a secret weapon.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49At first glance, it may look like a torpedo,
0:18:49 > 0:18:53but this is the very latest in autonomous underwater robotics.
0:18:55 > 0:19:00In addition to the diver-held unit, we've brought a proper robot.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03It has a much better suite of navigation instruments
0:19:03 > 0:19:05that allow us
0:19:05 > 0:19:07to build a better map more easily, cover more ground,
0:19:07 > 0:19:12and avoids the tedious aspect of having to swim around
0:19:12 > 0:19:15with a camera when you're trying to cover a large area.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24The mapping torpedo stands at the cutting edge of underwater archaeology.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26As the robot has never been used before,
0:19:26 > 0:19:30it still needs further testing before they let it lose on the site.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34They hope to survey the entire city,
0:19:34 > 0:19:36completing the job in a matter of days.
0:19:43 > 0:19:48The 3D photo mapping data will eventually be used to help
0:19:48 > 0:19:51digitally rebuild the city.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55But to get the visual effects team up and running,
0:19:55 > 0:19:58Jon has a line-drawn site plan to give them an overview.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03How am I able to identify what are buildings and what are streets?
0:20:03 > 0:20:06The red lines there are picking out the streets
0:20:06 > 0:20:10so we have five or six main streets that we've recognised so far.
0:20:10 > 0:20:16We have a main street going up here, a street up there, a street running along this reef.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18The blue lines are actually marking out
0:20:18 > 0:20:22building complexes. These are the domestic structures, the houses.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Then we have yellow, which is marking out courtyards.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29There's a lot of open space in this city. There was probably people
0:20:29 > 0:20:32out, you know, threshing, drying their clothes,
0:20:32 > 0:20:34grinding their cereals and so on,
0:20:34 > 0:20:37and talking to their neighbours probably.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40We can tell they're courtyards because they have less stone,
0:20:40 > 0:20:42less rubble, they have lower walls.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Is there any evidence to suggest...
0:20:45 > 0:20:48The visual effects team can now start to extrude the walls
0:20:48 > 0:20:53of some of the buildings directly on top of the archaeological site plan.
0:20:53 > 0:20:54..probably paving.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57How are the buildings split up in terms of division of rooms?
0:20:57 > 0:21:01What you've got is you've got a range of buildings
0:21:01 > 0:21:05around a courtyard, so you've got I think, about one, two, three,
0:21:05 > 0:21:08four, five, six separate rooms at the least
0:21:08 > 0:21:11around a courtyard with an entrance into it.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14The walls are more or less correct,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17but we've got work to do with the height of some of them.
0:21:17 > 0:21:23Although the foundations of much of Pavlopetri have been preserved,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26rebuilding the city will have to be based to some extent
0:21:26 > 0:21:28on interpretation.
0:21:28 > 0:21:33Fortunately, rare yet vital clues exist from other Bronze Age sites.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42This fresco from the ancient city of Akrotiri,
0:21:42 > 0:21:44on the Greek island of Thera,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47is one of the only depictions of a Bronze Age town.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53It dates to 1550 BC, and shows neighbourhoods
0:21:53 > 0:21:56of neat brickwork buildings, even roof terraces.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01The fresco also indicates this was a time
0:22:01 > 0:22:06when people took to the sea and began widespread maritime trade.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21To find clues to Pavlopetri's trade links,
0:22:21 > 0:22:25the archaeologists are expanding their search of the site.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30Quite delicate, you can see the base of it.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32It would have sat like that.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37This probably dates to 2000BC.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45This is one of three legs for a standing bowl,
0:22:45 > 0:22:47so it would have been about this size.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54They're finding objects that date from almost 2000 years
0:22:54 > 0:22:56before the Mycenaean period.
0:22:56 > 0:23:01This implies the site may be much older than first thought.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07Jon also starts to find key evidence of local industry.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15This is a loom weight. You can see its got a hole in it
0:23:15 > 0:23:19for hanging on a loom, for preparing textiles and making textiles,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22so we know that they were making clothes here.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27We've got literally hundreds of these on the sea floor.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30These loom weights, these are used for hanging
0:23:30 > 0:23:33from a loom for making textiles essentially.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36They must have been making it on a very large scale.
0:23:36 > 0:23:37Maybe even an industrial scale.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41Maybe this is one of the main things that they were sending out
0:23:41 > 0:23:44into the Eastern Mediterranean and trading with other cultures.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47This is a significant discovery
0:23:47 > 0:23:50and suggests a thriving textile industry.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55And with trade, there would have been wealth.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57Even the most innocuous finds
0:23:57 > 0:24:00tell an elaborate story.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03This is quite an exciting find
0:24:03 > 0:24:05because it's a roof tile
0:24:05 > 0:24:08and you only get roof tiles on sites with quite serious buildings.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11Important buildings have roof tiles.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13It's a good find.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Your average house would have had a flat timber roof
0:24:20 > 0:24:23but once we've got roofs with roof tiles on it,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26it makes you think somebody important is living there.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30The building is saying something about the inhabitants, it's more monumental
0:24:30 > 0:24:32So it's raising the status of this town.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35Previously thought to be just a harbour town, we now think
0:24:35 > 0:24:38it's a city, we're now getting big buildings
0:24:38 > 0:24:40and evidence of big architecture.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51To help better understand the possible structure
0:24:51 > 0:24:52of the buildings of Pavlopetri,
0:24:52 > 0:24:54Jon is taking Simon
0:24:54 > 0:24:57to an old farmhouse in a nearby village.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04Jon sees architectural similarities that span the millennia.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11Almost everything you've got here, the sort of general layout
0:25:11 > 0:25:13of a 100-year-old farmstead up to the modern day,
0:25:13 > 0:25:15we can see at Pavlopetri.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18And that shows you how advanced Pavlopetri was.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Perhaps the only difference is the building complexes in Pavlopetri.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24There are a range of rooms built around a courtyard.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27Rather than an isolated building like this.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34It's remarkable that house design in this area appears to have
0:25:34 > 0:25:37changed very little in the last 3,000 years.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42The stones here would be like stone foundations of Pavlopetri.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45Then on top of that you would have the clay and timber framework.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49We think the design of the buildings
0:25:49 > 0:25:52has something to do with resistance to earthquakes.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54We are in a very, very active tectonic zone,
0:25:54 > 0:25:58probably one of the most active earthquake areas in the world.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01And, as a result, we think that the foundations of the buildings
0:26:01 > 0:26:04were made out of stone, supporting a timber framework,
0:26:04 > 0:26:06plastered with clay or with mud bricks,
0:26:06 > 0:26:10because that would move in an earthquake, it would be less likely to collapse.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17Would they have all been pitched roofs or would some be flat as well?
0:26:17 > 0:26:19I think at Pavlopetri we've probably got both.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22And I say that because we found quite a range of roof tiles
0:26:22 > 0:26:26with actual ridges on them, for hanging them along a pitched roof.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28So very similar to this.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33To make his digital recreations as accurate as possible,
0:26:33 > 0:26:35Simon wants to know what colour to paint the houses.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41Jon draws inspiration from the Bronze Age frescos.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44'It might have been a mark of status
0:26:44 > 0:26:47'that there would be different colours for different buildings.'
0:26:47 > 0:26:50We know they were using yellow ochres and red oxides
0:26:50 > 0:26:53to produce a range of colours from sort of pink to browns.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56So, it was... it's a city awash with colour.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00People are living there, it's an exciting place. I want to capture that.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17Back at the site, Jon is convinced that two of the large buildings
0:27:17 > 0:27:20just off the main high street
0:27:20 > 0:27:22are prime examples of domestic dwellings.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Here we have possibly one of the first neighbourhoods
0:27:25 > 0:27:28on mainland Europe.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32So this here is the entrance
0:27:32 > 0:27:36to a Bronze Age house where people would have been living
0:27:36 > 0:27:39about 3,000- 4,000 years ago.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44So what we have is a square, ground floor room
0:27:44 > 0:27:48and we've got the entrance doorway here
0:27:48 > 0:27:50marked by a stone threshold.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53And on this there would have been built
0:27:53 > 0:27:58a wooden doorway, an entrance into this building.
0:27:59 > 0:28:05What we actually see on this site are just the foundation walls.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14And on top of these walls you would have had a timber framework...
0:28:18 > 0:28:21..and then either mud brick or clay and plaster walls.
0:28:26 > 0:28:32In a number of the houses we have, sunk into the floor,
0:28:32 > 0:28:34the bottoms of storage vessels.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37This is probably where they were storing the grain,
0:28:37 > 0:28:40perhaps wine or olive oil.
0:28:40 > 0:28:45Um, it's a bit like a sort of Bronze Age fridge.
0:28:50 > 0:28:55Jon believes the people living here would have had bedrooms upstairs.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57The walls and the connections
0:28:57 > 0:29:01suggest that it's probably more than one storey high.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03It was probably a two-storey building.
0:29:09 > 0:29:13These villas are made up of possibly seven to ten rooms.
0:29:15 > 0:29:19While the ground floor may have been used for storage
0:29:19 > 0:29:22and possibly keeping animals,
0:29:22 > 0:29:24wooden staircases would have led up
0:29:24 > 0:29:25to living quarters on a second floor,
0:29:25 > 0:29:29with windows and possibly a terrace.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42So this is maybe just a little glimpse of prehistoric suburbia.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58From their discoveries, the team now believe
0:29:58 > 0:30:02there were some important, wealthy people living in Pavlopetri
0:30:02 > 0:30:07and that it was a harbour town that thrived on trade, possibly textiles.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14Just down the high street from the domestic dwellings,
0:30:14 > 0:30:18one of the other prominent buildings has caught Jon's attention.
0:30:26 > 0:30:29There's so much evidence of storage here.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32There's so many broken pieces of storage vessels
0:30:32 > 0:30:37way beyond what somebody would need just for a normal house.
0:30:37 > 0:30:39And that makes us think that this is a building
0:30:39 > 0:30:42of a different function to the houses elsewhere on the site,
0:30:42 > 0:30:47and perhaps this is some sort of administrative function.
0:30:47 > 0:30:52So if that's true, this might be one of the most important buildings on the site.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57The building appears to have had several narrow oblong rooms
0:30:57 > 0:30:59located at the back.
0:30:59 > 0:31:06In one of these are the remains of a huge ceramic jar called a pithos.
0:31:07 > 0:31:12This is the edge of a 4,000-year-old storage vessel.
0:31:12 > 0:31:16And you can see the handle of the storage vessel,
0:31:16 > 0:31:21and we know that there is at least half a metre of deposit
0:31:21 > 0:31:23to excavate underneath here.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29'There's a pithos sitting just in that building'
0:31:29 > 0:31:32right in the middle there which we've actually marked...
0:31:32 > 0:31:36Back at base, Jon has brought his findings to the attention of
0:31:36 > 0:31:41the co-director of the project, Ilias Spondylis from the Greek team.
0:31:41 > 0:31:43- Then we get the number, lift it and it's out.- OK.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45So we don't have to measure...
0:31:45 > 0:31:48He's agreed for a small excavation to take place
0:31:48 > 0:31:52to try and lift the large pithos jar.
0:31:52 > 0:31:56This is the first ever excavation on the site.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05The Greek team establish the boundaries of the dig site...
0:32:06 > 0:32:10..and set up what is known as a water dredge.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16The basic underwater technique of excavation,
0:32:16 > 0:32:19it's not a trowel, it's not a spade, it's just your hands, OK?
0:32:19 > 0:32:21With a water dredge.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27It effectively works like a vacuum cleaner,
0:32:27 > 0:32:29and it allows us to very carefully
0:32:29 > 0:32:33remove sand and silt around artefacts.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41The sand and silt gets sucked up
0:32:41 > 0:32:44and deposited several metres from the dig.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49Throughout the next few days,
0:32:49 > 0:32:53the excavation proceeds under the direction of the Greek team,
0:32:53 > 0:32:55with the divers working in shifts.
0:32:55 > 0:32:57It's a very delicate operation.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03This is the top of it, this is the top rim.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06These are the handles for actually moving it around,
0:33:06 > 0:33:11and maybe, you know, lifting it onto ships or with ropes, or so on.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14You would use them in your house, you could sink them in your floor.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18But equally they were used for transporting
0:33:18 > 0:33:20all sorts of items in the Bronze Age.
0:33:20 > 0:33:25Everything from wine, olive oil, grain, to ceramics.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29You actually sometimes find smaller pots inside these vessels.
0:33:37 > 0:33:42In the corner of the excavation, a second pithos starts to emerge.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45This adds weight to Jon's suggestion
0:33:45 > 0:33:48that the building was some sort of storage depot.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52These jars could give clues as to who the city was trading with.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00Jon wants to try something never done before.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04He's asked the mapping team to use the push-along survey unit
0:34:04 > 0:34:07to see if they can produce a daily 3D photo map
0:34:07 > 0:34:10of the trench as it's being excavated.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27As night falls, the team download the data
0:34:27 > 0:34:29to see if the plan has worked.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31There's a new part in this corner, can you tell?
0:34:31 > 0:34:33Stitching together the photos,
0:34:33 > 0:34:38it looks like they have been successful.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41So far it looks quite convincing, you can see that
0:34:41 > 0:34:46outside of the trench, most of the site is recognisable.
0:34:46 > 0:34:51You can see more of the main pithos, the jar, the clay jar.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53But you can also start to see perhaps another jar
0:34:53 > 0:34:55coming up in a corner,
0:34:55 > 0:35:00and perhaps a bit of burnt coal or something on another area.
0:35:01 > 0:35:03Real time 3D photo mapping
0:35:03 > 0:35:08of an active underwater excavation has never been done before.
0:35:09 > 0:35:14So we can look at the evolution of the trench over a period of time.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18Which should show us what they've been doing every day,
0:35:18 > 0:35:20with the excavation.
0:35:20 > 0:35:25This is great for archaeology because you can then, in a sense, re-excavate the site.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27It'll allow us to step back through time
0:35:27 > 0:35:29and see each layer of the site individually.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33And as opposed to having to record everything manually,
0:35:33 > 0:35:36now you can record everything visually and then, preserve it.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39So it speeds things up quite quickly.
0:35:39 > 0:35:43You get more accurate plans than you would have done drawing them.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52The excavation doesn't just help understand
0:35:52 > 0:35:55what was going on in this building,
0:35:55 > 0:35:58but also how the city itself
0:35:58 > 0:36:01fitted into the wider Mediterranean world.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09You can just see these little circular...
0:36:09 > 0:36:11decoration pieces on it.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15If I just get it a bit clearer there.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18They're just stamped on when the clay is still wet.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20This decoration went right round it.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24This vessel probably came from Crete.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32The design and build of this pithos jar
0:36:32 > 0:36:37suggests it was made between 1700 and 1500BC.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40It would have been used for storage
0:36:40 > 0:36:43or transportation of a range of goods.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47The pithos is similar to hundreds that have been found
0:36:47 > 0:36:51within the ancient palace of Knossos on the island of Crete.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56Crete is the largest of the Greek islands
0:36:56 > 0:36:59and lies south-east of Pavlopetri.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07It was home to the Minoan civilisation
0:37:07 > 0:37:09dating back over 5,000 years.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15Knossos was their most lavish of palaces,
0:37:15 > 0:37:22boasting over 1,500 rooms, running water and even flushing toilets.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29Minoan palaces weren't fortified.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33Their civilisation thrived without any great military strength.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36They had a strict social hierarchy,
0:37:36 > 0:37:38were pioneers of writing,
0:37:38 > 0:37:40and flourished through trade.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46Minoan cultural influence spread far beyond the island of Crete,
0:37:46 > 0:37:48not by military might...
0:37:49 > 0:37:51..but by a network of trade routes
0:37:51 > 0:37:55reaching all corners of the Mediterranean.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59Just up the coast from Crete, on the island of Kythera,
0:37:59 > 0:38:01was a Minoan colony called Kastri.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05There's strong evidence that Minoan traders lived there...
0:38:06 > 0:38:10..and trading links would have extended north to the mainland.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12Right through Pavlopetri.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23Jon believes the city was an active trading hub,
0:38:23 > 0:38:26seeing the passage of imports and exports
0:38:26 > 0:38:28from all over Bronze Age Greece.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33The key to understanding Pavlopetri is the location.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37It's basically at the gateway of the mainland Peloponnese.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40If you're trading anything, sailing from the eastern Mediterranean
0:38:40 > 0:38:43and you're coming into mainland Greece,
0:38:43 > 0:38:48you've got to pass by Pavlopetri to get up towards Sparta.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51So just its very location meant that it was always going to be
0:38:51 > 0:38:54a good place to have a settlement by the sea.
0:39:00 > 0:39:01Back at base camp,
0:39:01 > 0:39:05the visual effects team continue with their work
0:39:05 > 0:39:08to digitally rebuild the city.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11They've started reconstructing the storeroom building.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13What's your first impression of that?
0:39:13 > 0:39:16I'd say it looks fantastic, I'm really excited by it.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19There's a few things I would change now.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21This part here, I think probably wasn't roofed.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24And I know why you've done that. I think this courtyard,
0:39:24 > 0:39:27there may have been some sort of entranceway,
0:39:27 > 0:39:29there may have been something demarking that.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33With his knowledge of other Greek Bronze Age settlements,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36Jon can use the reconstruction to piece together
0:39:36 > 0:39:39what may have happened within the building.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43Seeing it like this is really making me think about
0:39:43 > 0:39:45how this building worked.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48Maybe you had carts coming in here, filled with goods,
0:39:48 > 0:39:50and they're unloading and then taking them into here.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54If you imagine it almost like a public council building,
0:39:54 > 0:39:57you go into the first room and it's probably a waiting room,
0:39:57 > 0:40:00with a bureaucrat waiting to record what you've just brought in.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11At the front of the building were the admin offices
0:40:11 > 0:40:15where imports and exports may have been checked in and out.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26Towards the rear, located in the long, narrow outhouses,
0:40:26 > 0:40:31the large pithos jars would have stored items ready for dispersal.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41We had people here capable of complex administration,
0:40:41 > 0:40:46complex buildings and sort of an almost modern way of life.
0:40:46 > 0:40:47We can identify with this.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56The city not only shows evidence of local administration
0:40:56 > 0:40:58and organised trade,
0:40:58 > 0:41:00but it's starting to look like
0:41:00 > 0:41:04they were actively trading with the Minoans on Crete.
0:41:07 > 0:41:11With their time on the site rapidly coming to an end,
0:41:11 > 0:41:15the team are finding more and more older artefacts.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25So this is quite an exciting find...
0:41:27 > 0:41:32..dating to around 4,000 years ago.
0:41:33 > 0:41:37You can just see the ropework-like design.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41This is great, so let's get it lifted up.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46As well as storage vessels,
0:41:46 > 0:41:50a strong Cretan influence is now coming through
0:41:50 > 0:41:52with the domestic wares.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55Absolutely fantastic.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58Well found. It looks absolutely brilliant.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02We can recognise it as a palatial amphora,
0:42:02 > 0:42:05that's the new palace period in Crete.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08It's a really diagnostic shape,
0:42:08 > 0:42:11we can put it about 1700, 1600 BC.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14It's a pouring vessel, a jug essentially,
0:42:14 > 0:42:18but it's a really brilliant find, it's in great condition
0:42:18 > 0:42:21and it's giving us a really nice, tight date
0:42:21 > 0:42:23of something that's going on around here.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30The Cretan-influenced finds
0:42:30 > 0:42:34don't just mean the city is older than first thought.
0:42:35 > 0:42:40They are starting to reveal Pavlopetri as a cultural melting pot.
0:42:40 > 0:42:41We're beginning to get things
0:42:41 > 0:42:44that are putting us directly in touch with the people.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48You can imagine, you know, somebody 4,000 years ago was using
0:42:48 > 0:42:51this little pot lid, and it's still complete.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55The same with this little bottle for pouring some sort of liquid.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00We have this situation where we have the people of Pavlopetri
0:43:00 > 0:43:01copying Cretan styles.
0:43:01 > 0:43:04We've got a change from people using indigenous pottery forms,
0:43:04 > 0:43:06pottery forms you'd find in the mainland,
0:43:06 > 0:43:09but they're making them in Cretan shapes,
0:43:09 > 0:43:13but they're making it out of local pottery. So they're adopting the fashions.
0:43:15 > 0:43:17The ceramic jug is thought to be
0:43:17 > 0:43:20an exact copy of a bronze metal amphora.
0:43:20 > 0:43:24The detail in the spout and the line around the neck
0:43:24 > 0:43:27are seen on metal versions of the jug found in Crete
0:43:27 > 0:43:30that would have been much more expensive to produce.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33The people of Pavlopetri are copying the lifestyles
0:43:33 > 0:43:35of the rich and famous in some ways.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37It's a bit like buying a cheap copy
0:43:37 > 0:43:40of a rich fashion label or something like that.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43It's buying into the lifestyles of the rich and famous.
0:43:43 > 0:43:45Why not have a Minoan jug in your home as well?
0:43:45 > 0:43:48You can get it at a knock-down price in ceramic,
0:43:48 > 0:43:51and you're getting some of that cache of having, you know,
0:43:51 > 0:43:53the latest fashions in your house.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06Cultural insights aren't just coming from artefacts.
0:44:07 > 0:44:12Clues to the inhabitants' belief systems and even social structure
0:44:12 > 0:44:16can be seen in the way the people of Pavlopetri took care of their dead.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21Some of these tombs date to nearly 5000 years ago.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26This is probably one of the only indications
0:44:26 > 0:44:29that there's an archaeological site here from the shore.
0:44:31 > 0:44:35We've got about 60 rock-cut tombs, just following a line of bedrock
0:44:35 > 0:44:38which would have overlooked the city.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44For the first time, really, in the Bronze Age,
0:44:44 > 0:44:47we're beginning to see attitudes towards death
0:44:47 > 0:44:49and disposing of the dead in some ways,
0:44:49 > 0:44:51or sending them on to the next life.
0:44:51 > 0:44:53We're beginning to see attitudes towards the dead
0:44:53 > 0:44:55which we recognise in our own society.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01The inhabitants appear to have had a close relationship
0:45:01 > 0:45:03and respect for their dead.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07But not everyone was entombed in such grand structures.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12This is what's called a cyst grave.
0:45:12 > 0:45:14What you have is four slabs
0:45:14 > 0:45:19placed in to create a small compartment,
0:45:19 > 0:45:21almost like a coffin, almost like the kind of thing
0:45:21 > 0:45:24we would imagine a grave to be today.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28But what's interesting is how small it is.
0:45:28 > 0:45:33And we think that these graves were used for the burials of children.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41There are over 40 cyst graves across the city,
0:45:41 > 0:45:44all located inside buildings.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51Each would have had a stone slab to seal the tomb.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58Jon has a theory why they buried their children in their homes.
0:46:04 > 0:46:09What people were doing was keeping the children that had died
0:46:09 > 0:46:12close to them after death,
0:46:12 > 0:46:15in the sort of house space,
0:46:15 > 0:46:18perhaps to encourage fertility in the household
0:46:18 > 0:46:22or to make sure there would be more children along the way.
0:46:27 > 0:46:31As well as connections with the afterlife,
0:46:31 > 0:46:35the team is finding that social standing is also reflected in death.
0:46:39 > 0:46:43Cut into the ridge of rock running along the eastern edge of the city
0:46:43 > 0:46:46are two huge rock-cut chamber tombs.
0:46:49 > 0:46:54This is the entrance passage into a central chamber.
0:46:56 > 0:47:00I suspect this is one of the most pre-eminent graves
0:47:00 > 0:47:02in the whole of the site.
0:47:03 > 0:47:08It was probably only for one or two very important people.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17This would have been entirely carved out of rock
0:47:17 > 0:47:21and this is where people would have come and laid out their dead.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28These tombs date to the Mycenaean era
0:47:28 > 0:47:31and are like today's large family crypts.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36They could be re-opened to add additional bodies
0:47:36 > 0:47:37or conduct rituals.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40These impressive structures
0:47:40 > 0:47:44were for the elite leaders or ruling families of Pavlopetri,
0:47:44 > 0:47:48boasting the best resting place overlooking the city.
0:47:55 > 0:47:57It appears the city's inhabitants
0:47:57 > 0:48:01had a complex and multi-layered social hierarchy.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06We've got evidence that people are beginning to have defined roles
0:48:06 > 0:48:08within that society, even professions.
0:48:08 > 0:48:13They'd have been craftsmen or merchants or even soldiers.
0:48:13 > 0:48:16And you're beginning to see some level of status in society
0:48:16 > 0:48:20and it's interesting that that's now being reflected in the burials,
0:48:20 > 0:48:25where we're now beginning to see tombs reflecting probably some level of status.
0:48:28 > 0:48:32The people of Pavlopetri lived in a vibrant city,
0:48:32 > 0:48:36with a structured society, and organised trade.
0:48:37 > 0:48:41So how did a culture so advanced disappear under the waves?
0:48:45 > 0:48:49Its fate has been puzzling oceanographer Nic Flemming
0:48:49 > 0:48:52ever since he first discovered the site over 40 years ago.
0:48:53 > 0:48:55When you find an underwater city,
0:48:55 > 0:49:00the problem always is, did the land go down or did the sea come up?
0:49:00 > 0:49:04Here at Pavlopetri, there's a lot of explaining to do.
0:49:06 > 0:49:10Pavlopetri stood at a time when global sea level was on the rise,
0:49:10 > 0:49:15still fed by water melting from the last great Ice Age.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20But Nic believes that wouldn't have been enough to drown the city.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27Greece is one of the most geologically active places in the world.
0:49:27 > 0:49:32Throughout history, there are records of huge earthquakes,
0:49:32 > 0:49:34giant tsunamis,
0:49:34 > 0:49:36and vast volcanic eruptions.
0:49:39 > 0:49:43Could it be that Pavlopetri was sent to its watery grave
0:49:43 > 0:49:46in one single cataclysmic earthquake?
0:49:52 > 0:49:57Clues to the answer lie in a set of strange underwater rock formations
0:49:57 > 0:50:01which are actually ancient fossilised shorelines.
0:50:03 > 0:50:07You find strips of what look like concrete,
0:50:07 > 0:50:09laid almost like a paving strip
0:50:09 > 0:50:13along the beach, which is actually a natural cement,
0:50:13 > 0:50:17formed by the action of sunlight on the sand with the salt water.
0:50:17 > 0:50:21And that can give you exactly where the sea level was at past dates.
0:50:23 > 0:50:25These ancient shorelines
0:50:25 > 0:50:28are what Jon originally saw from the helicopter.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31They are made up of something called beach rock
0:50:31 > 0:50:35and show up as dark strips lying parallel to the sandy shore.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43Beach rock only forms at the water's edge,
0:50:43 > 0:50:46so these parallel strips show where the beach would have been
0:50:46 > 0:50:48at different times in history.
0:50:53 > 0:50:59Jon wants to get a sample from the individual lines of beach rock
0:50:59 > 0:51:01to track the times of the changing shoreline.
0:51:05 > 0:51:09Hopefully we'll get a rough date of the formation of this coastline,
0:51:09 > 0:51:13this old shoreline, and that might tell us something
0:51:13 > 0:51:16about when Pavlopetri was submerged.
0:51:20 > 0:51:24The idea of a massive subsidence and a sort of huge tidal wave
0:51:24 > 0:51:28and molten lava and ash coming down out of the sky is very attractive,
0:51:28 > 0:51:31and of course it does sometimes happen,
0:51:31 > 0:51:34but unfortunately for the Hollywood movie people,
0:51:34 > 0:51:37it doesn't seem to have happened here.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43The presence of successive lines of beach rock
0:51:43 > 0:51:47indicates there was more than one seismic event.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50From the radiocarbon dating process,
0:51:50 > 0:51:55it appears Pavlopetri sunk in at least three earthquake events,
0:51:55 > 0:51:58the first coming soon after 1000 BC.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03Each time the land dropped, more of the remaining buildings
0:52:03 > 0:52:05were claimed by the sea.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09We've got a grand city which has seen better days,
0:52:09 > 0:52:13but slowly as the edge of the town became waterlogged,
0:52:13 > 0:52:16winter storm takes away some of the key buildings,
0:52:16 > 0:52:19and then finally you're left with, you know, just a few houses
0:52:19 > 0:52:24sticking out of the water and it's gone, and I find that a...
0:52:24 > 0:52:28an attractive, rather sad image, but it's just as human
0:52:28 > 0:52:31and just as moving as blowing the whole thing up in one night.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43With only a few days left and all testing complete,
0:52:43 > 0:52:48the mapping team are finally ready to deploy their robotic surveying torpedo.
0:52:52 > 0:52:54Just like the push-along rig,
0:52:54 > 0:52:57bright sunlight interferes with the cameras,
0:52:57 > 0:53:00so they have to run the robot at night.
0:53:00 > 0:53:03I think this is the first time this has been done
0:53:03 > 0:53:06in a submerged archaeological site like this.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09Just seeing it go in the water was fantastic.
0:53:10 > 0:53:15The plan is to survey the entire site in just a couple of nights,
0:53:15 > 0:53:17a job that would normally take months.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20The stakes are high.
0:53:20 > 0:53:25It's always a bit disconcerting, I guess, to put a machine
0:53:25 > 0:53:29that costs several hundred thousands of dollars into the ocean
0:53:29 > 0:53:32without a way of knowing what it's going to do exactly.
0:53:34 > 0:53:36Following a programmed route,
0:53:36 > 0:53:41the torpedo moves across the site at around two nautical miles an hour,
0:53:41 > 0:53:46with its twin cameras photographing the sea floor three times a second.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50After just a few nights' work,
0:53:50 > 0:53:52the team have got some impressive results.
0:53:52 > 0:53:57They've succeeded in completing a stone by stone photo map of the entire city.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04This will fundamentally change the way we do underwater archaeology.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07This is... You can't get any better than this
0:54:07 > 0:54:09in terms of underwater survey.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12The other thing about doing this is it allows you to create views,
0:54:12 > 0:54:14which are actually impossible otherwise.
0:54:14 > 0:54:17If we had this in reality, we'd be way out of the water,
0:54:17 > 0:54:19we'd be right above the sea.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23So it allows us to examine the city in different ways.
0:54:23 > 0:54:28Using the millimetre-accurate, 3D photo map of the whole city,
0:54:28 > 0:54:32the visual effects team can now finish building Pavlopetri,
0:54:32 > 0:54:34and digitally raise it from the seafloor.
0:54:45 > 0:54:47But to apply the final touches,
0:54:47 > 0:54:51Simon has one last job to complete down on the beach.
0:54:53 > 0:54:58By capturing the way the sunlight falls on the mirrored ball,
0:54:58 > 0:55:01Simon can reproduce exactly how the sun
0:55:01 > 0:55:04would have bathed the city itself thousands of years ago.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09We want to be able to get a map of this light
0:55:09 > 0:55:13to add to our computer model to give us a very realistic interpretation
0:55:13 > 0:55:16of what the city would have once looked like.
0:55:18 > 0:55:20We've had the very detailed survey,
0:55:20 > 0:55:23but then we've enhanced that with the visual effects team
0:55:23 > 0:55:25to reconstruct, bring the city back to life.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33By digitally recreating the city stone by stone,
0:55:33 > 0:55:39we can at last glimpse Pavlopetri through the eyes of its inhabitants.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49I'm blown away by the fact that they can actually reconstruct
0:55:49 > 0:55:54whole buildings from just the really basic robotic models we generated.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57It takes the city from a pile of artefacts and stones
0:55:57 > 0:56:02and really turns it into something that the public can visualise.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07Some parts of the city are missing from the seafloor,
0:56:07 > 0:56:10washed away by wave action.
0:56:10 > 0:56:15But guided by the spread of pottery sherds and isolated foundation stones,
0:56:15 > 0:56:18plus clues from other Bronze Age town plans,
0:56:18 > 0:56:22Jon believes this is what the complete city might have looked like.
0:56:24 > 0:56:28Bringing the city back to life creates a closer connection with the site,
0:56:28 > 0:56:31and perhaps a closer connection with the people who lived there.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37Based on the age of artefacts found across the site,
0:56:37 > 0:56:43this is an impression of Pavlopetri at its peak, around 1600BC.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48It was a city with a planned layout.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53People lived alongside each other, in neighbourhoods.
0:56:55 > 0:57:00They had large houses with courtyards, upstairs bedrooms,
0:57:00 > 0:57:02and views of the sea.
0:57:04 > 0:57:08So we get people such as merchants. We get craftsmen.
0:57:08 > 0:57:10Scribes, administrators.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13Probably even prostitutes. We get slaves.
0:57:13 > 0:57:15We get a wide range of people.
0:57:15 > 0:57:19The kind of thing we would expect in a busy, mixed port town.
0:57:22 > 0:57:27Starting as a small, presumably fishing village
0:57:27 > 0:57:30and developing into a very busy port with connections
0:57:30 > 0:57:32throughout the Aegean Sea initially, then with Crete,
0:57:32 > 0:57:35and then with the Eastern Mediterranean.
0:57:35 > 0:57:37And the kind of complexity and development
0:57:37 > 0:57:39that would have had for the city itself,
0:57:39 > 0:57:42for me, that's the big story of Pavlopetri.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48Pavlopetri was an active harbour town.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51It stood as a gateway to the mainland,
0:57:51 > 0:57:56not just where imports and exports changed hands...
0:57:57 > 0:58:01..but a meeting of minds and an exchange of ideas.
0:58:02 > 0:58:05It's making us realise that the people
0:58:05 > 0:58:07were very much like you and I.
0:58:07 > 0:58:11They were living lives which are not far distant from the lives we live today.
0:58:12 > 0:58:16We're actually seeing the dawning of the West, in some way.
0:58:16 > 0:58:19We can begin to trace that back to sites like Pavlopetri.
0:58:33 > 0:58:36Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:36 > 0:58:39E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk