Archaeology magazine has just released its annual list featuring the top 10 discoveries of 2018 and two major ancient Greek finds are included.

In the list, compiled by the Archaeological Institute of America, one can find a plaque inscribed with a verse of the Odyssey, the oldest inscribed section ever discovered in Greece of the epic poem.

The plaque was unearthed outside a village near the ancient sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia in a pile of discarded building material that was concealing a precious ancient artifact. Archaeologists estimate the find to be from around the third century AD, even though the poem is thought to have been composed in the 8th century BC and first written down in the 6th century BC.

The second discovery is the wreck of an ancient Greek merchant ship, found almost intact in the bottom of the Black Sea at a depth of over 1,500 meters.

The find belongs the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project team that used a deep-sea camera system to scour the seabed off the coast of Bulgaria. Based on radiocarbon dating the ship’s age is about 2,400 years. This is the first whole ancient shipwreck experts can examine thanks to the very low oxygen levels on the seabed of the Black Sea which helped preserve the design of the ship’s mast, rudders and other wooden components.