More than a 100 ago , a group of parazoan fishermen were make their way home to theGreek island of Symewhen they were catch in a crimson storm . After being blown off course of action , they wangle to drop anchor on a shallow shelf near a small-scale island called Antikythera . After ride out the storm , the crew decided to make good of a unfit situation and explored the new field . But what they discover was of far greater value than a few ocean sponges : an ancient shipwreck , buried for millennia beneath ocean deposit .
After a gruelingnine monthsof intense piece of work , a trove of ancient treasure were recovered by the diver , including statues made of bronze and marble , jewelry , article of furniture and ancient glasswork which were all bring in to a museum in Greece . Many of the artefacts were fragmented , so archeologists bit by bit essay to nibble them together . At some point , a corroded lump that was thought to go to one of the statue break up open , revealing what would later be identified as one of the most complicated old-timer in cosmos : the Antikythera Mechanism .
prototype credit : Ze’ev Barkan , Antikythera zodiac , via Flickr . millilitre by 2.0
Thisancient clockwork deviceis guess to have been construct around 87 B.C.E , but was lose in 76 B.C.E when the ill - plump out cargo ship carrying it pass . It ’s think that this bronze instrument was a kind of mechanically skillful “ computer ” used to count on thepositions of astronomic objects . The mechanism was composed of at least 30 unlike gears , but various composition are drop today . That ’s why a team of divers and archeologist recently deliver to the crash , embarking on a young explorative task which they hoped would yield new antiquities .
After drop over a month excavating the wreckage , with the help of a$1.3 million exosuit , the squad recovered a series of intriguing uncovering , demonstrating that much of the load stillremains preservedbeneath the sediment . Furthermore , many element of the ship are still attach , such as mainstay and rigging rings , prove that some parts are still intact . Bits and pieces of the wreckage are also strew across a huge area , some 300 meters of seafloor , suggest that the ship was considerably larger than originally believe , mayhap even 50 meter long .
Among thefindingswere a ceramic mesa jug , a bronze rigging ringing and part of an ornate bed . But the most remarkable gem by far was a giant , two - meter - prospicient bronze spear . This was probably far too heavy to have been used as a weapon , so the investigator believe it may be part of a statue , perhaps the goddess Athena . Although they did n’t encounter the neglect pieces of the Antikythera Mechanism , the squad will give to the shipwreck next class to search it further . “ We have a heap of work to do at this site to uncover its secrets , ” archeologist Theotokis Theodoulou said in a news show release .
persona credit : Brett Seymour/ Return to Antikythera 2014 .
[ ViaBBC NewsandWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution ]
