Spartan Ivory warship relief plaque excavated at the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia. The plaque was found associated with Laconian l and ll pottery dated to the late 8th or early 7th century BC. The plaque shows a cataphract, or armoured warship, with roughly 10 crew, some raising sail, some seated behind protective shields with oars, one fishing off the bow and another crouched on the ram facing aft, apparently obeying the call of nature. Below the hull are 3 large fish. It is likely that each the 13 roundels originally contained an inset of amber. The Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, an Archaic site devoted in Classical times to Artemis, was one of the most important religious sites in the Greek city-state of Sparta, and continued to be used into the fourth century CE.