Marine archaeologists have revealed the latest discoveries from the site of the Antikythera shipwreck, famous for the “Antikythera Mechanism,” which has been described as an ancient computer.
The mechanism’s fragments were raised in 1901 from the mid-1st century B.C. shipwreck off the southern Greek island of Antikythera.
In a statement, Greece’s Ministry of Culture and Sports said that marine archaeologists returned to the shipwreck this month, more than two years after the last survey of the site in September 2017.
SEARCH BEGINS FOR MISSING FRAGMENTS OF ‘ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM’
Artifacts found at the wreck site included bones, a bronze ring, pieces of amphorae or ancient jars, and what may be olive kernels. A piece of wood with four bronze nails was also recovered. The bones will be analyzed, according to officials.
Pottery from the Antikythera shipwreck’s cargo.
(Greece’s Ministry of Culture and Sports)
In 2016, marine archaeologists discovered a 2,100-year-old skeleton at the Antikythera wreck site.
In a separate project, archaeologists recently recovered ancient treasures from the wreck of the Mentor, a ship used by the controversial Lord Elgin to transport a hoard of artifacts taken from Greece.
ANCIENT GREEK ‘ANTIKYTHERA’ SHIPWRECK STILL HOLDS SECRETS
An amphora is lifted from the seabed. (Greece’s Ministry of Culture and Sports)
The ship, which was carrying a cargo of 17 boxes of antiquities, sank in September 1802 after striking rocks off the Greek island of Kythira. Much of the ship’s cargo, including the controversial “Elgin Marbles,” was recovered in a salvage mission after its sinking. However, many ancient artifacts remained on the seabed, according to Artnet News.
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Cargo being lifted from the shipwreck site. (Greece’s Ministry of Culture and Sports)
A team of archaeologists recently excavated the shipwreck site, recovering ancient objects that included an ornate gold ring, a pair of gold earrings, and part of an amphora. Other items recovered from the wreck site include part of a wooden leg and a pulley from the Mentor, according to a statement released by Greece’s Ministry of Culture and Sports.
Grace Williams and the Associated Press contributed to this article.
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