Fishing up a bronze statue

It’s amazing to hear what fishermen can catch in their nets, but nobody would imagine hauling up a heavy bronze statue from antiquity.

This memorable operation took place south of Marmaris on the southwestern coast of Turkey. How the fishing net did not rip apart under the weight of some 300 kilograms is a miracle by itself.

Soon the Turkish coast guard was informed, who sent archaeologists and delegates from the Marmaris Museum to examine the statue.

It has been established that this is a bronze of about two meters high of a woman, which by itself is rather unique since most statues represent male figures. At present, the precious cargo is being examined at the Marmaris Museum, where it will also be treated for further conservation. So far, it has not been possible to date the bronze.

There are, however, some speculations that this might be a twin of the bronze Lady of Kalymnos from the 2^nd century BC that was found in 1994 near the island of Kalymnos in the Dodecanese and exhibited in the local museum.

Reading between the lines, there is reason to believe that the fishermen had thrown their nets in Greek territorial waters where they were not allowed to cast their nets.

[The top right picture is from Archaeology News Network, Credit Arkeofili.

The bottom left is from the same source, Credit: Archaeological Museum of Kalymnos, Greece]