Sunday, January 21, 2018

More news from Anticythera

The site of Anticythera remains a treasure trove for underwater archaeologists. In September 2016, they returned to the site of the shipwreck and brought back bronze limbs, the lid of a sarcophagus, parts of different marble statues and a mysterious bronze disk.

The ship, one of the largest for its time (1st century BC) was nearly 40 meters long and transported a rich collection of artworks that was meant to decorate the houses of wealthy Romans (see also: The treasures of Anticythera’s shipwreck).

It is so exciting to be able to share the divers’ experiences under water as they handle a lost bronze arm belonging probably to a philosopher or an intriguing bronze disk that carries the image of a bull. Let’s enjoy this little video:



Anticythera made headlines when the famous mechanism was brought to light early last century and has kept scientists and researchers busy ever since.

The most significant find of this season may well be the human remains. This is a great opportunity to examine this skeleton’s DNA, hoping that the bones do indeed belong to one of the seafarers who died when the ship went down and not to a later shipwreck.

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