Return to Antikythera
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iece by remarkable piece the ancient ship is revealing itself to scientists who say the long lost wreck and the archaeological treasures she is giving
up are opening a window on the past unlike any previous discoveries. Named for the Greek island that
marks her grave, the Antikythera wreck is of unknown origin, resisting identity for more than a century, and previous scrutiny that includes a 1976 expedition led by diving pioneer Jacques Cousteau, whose television documentary, Diving for Roman Plunder, presents one colourful backstory for the vessel and its luxurious cargo. The latest exploratory mission –
September 15 to October 7 of this year – was the most ambitious to date, involving an international team of 35 archaeologists, divers and technicians
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from Greece, the United States and Australia, using state-of-the-art technology to collect new data and artifacts that, increasingly, suggest investigators have only just scratched the surface of the unique site. “We estimate 75 percent of all the
artifacts remain in the sediments,” Antikythera research program co-director, Dr. Brendan Foley, told DIVER. Considering the trove of ancient treasures recovered since discovery by Greek sponge divers in 1900, Foley says the site is already unprecedented for the variety, quality, and sheer number of artifacts that it has relinquished. But ongoing fieldwork has made it clear, “We’ve only just begun to coax information from this wreck,” he said, adding that it just may be the most important, most famous shipwreck from antiquity. “We’re hardcore scientists and archaeologists,” he said. “We hate
Top left: One of the project
dive platforms. Bottom left:
Patmos Harbor, Antikythera, the
project operations base. Top right: Project lead
diver Alexandros Sotiriou. Bottom
right and opposite page: a 2,200 year old bronze spear recovered this
year and thought to be part of a
large scale statue
to speak of treasure but in this case, it’s actually a treasure ship and there are just no two ways about it.”
Previous pages: Hellenic Navy
safety divers with the Exosuit
Deep Challenge Foley is a research specialist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, and heads up the Antikythera research effort in tandem with co-director Dr. Theotokis Theodoulou, a maritime archaeologist in the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities (EUA) of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports. Both men are experienced technical divers and the two project archaeologists who were trained to pilot the expedition’s advanced deep diving Exosuit, along with select dive team members who are Greek Navy SEALs, Navy Petty Officers and civilian technical divers. At 200 plus feet (60-70m) the
wreck site is not easily reached using conventional SCUBA equipment.
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