The Antikythera ship is one of the most famous and the richest ancient ever discovered wrecks which introduced to the world a lot of important objects of art, as well as the famous Antikythera mechanism, the oldest example of humanity's computer, a bronze device made by Archimedes, used for astronomical calculations.
The Antikythera ship is the richest ever discovered wreck
The new findings of the recent archeological research on the Antikythera shipwreck in Greece are impressive: the experts found a marble head, human teeth and many other finds. This is the second period of research carried out by the Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece on the spectacular shipwreck dating from the 2nd quarter of the first century BC.
A huge marble head of a male bearded figure, according to the experts, belongs to the headless statue of Hercules of Antikythera, discovered by spongers in 1900 and exhibited today in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
A huge marble head most likely belongs to the statue of Hercules of Antikythera, exhibited in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
Other important objects found on a hard agglomerate (that is accumulations of coarse-grained rocks) with traces of copper are two human teeth, which, thanks to their genetic material, will help to identify the gender and the age of the person to whom they belonged to.
Two human teeth found recently at the Antikythera Shipwreck. Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture
Another finding is a marble base of a male figure statue from which only the bottom part survived.
Among the artifacts, the researchers also found numerous items from the ship’s equipment, including iron and bronze nails, a wooden anchor, and shapeless metal masses.
Meanwhile, the researchers are still hopeful that one day they will be able to find more hidden pieces of the Antikythera Mechanism or at least some clues to find the mysterious owner of this extraordinary ancient device.
