Ships in the Sky: Mythistories of Seafaring in the Pindos Mountains

Thessaly was once an ancient sea stretching from the Kalampaka pass where today stands the geological wonder of Meteora, to the Aegean coast beyond Larisa. Now, if one knows where to look, aquatic treasures may catch the eye – maritime fossils, prehistoric seabeds, and, reportedly, pieces of ancient ships peeking out through strata that capture millennia of human activity. Two-thousand metres high in the Pindos Mountains, three hours’ drive from the coast, the sea, and particularly ships, play an important role in oral histories and local historical consciousness. Myths abound of unearthed ships and their treasures, shaping the way that people talk about the history of the landscape and their ancestors; narratives that often contradict official regional historiography. Pieces of ships are not mere artefacts of curiosity but allow villagers to affectively re-tell the history of the region, explain peculiar local characteristics and carve a narrative of community based on maritime culture. This paper demonstrates how maritime cultures transcend the distinction between land and sea and how mythistories of seafaring may surface in the most unlikely locations.