Nearly 2,000 years ago, a ship sank off Crete. The bust of a headless statue had since been brought to the surface but the identity of this effigy remained a mystery… which has just been uncovered.
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[EN VIDÉO] A turtle submarine helps archaeologists explore shipwrecks Underwater archeology is an exceptionally rich field but this practice remains risky, especially when exploring wrecks or sunken buildings. Faced with this problem, a team of scientists is trying to develop the use of underwater robots. The Euronews channel tells us more in this new episode of Futuris.
The Antikythera machine is well known for having given archaeologists a hard time as the understanding of its mechanism and its usefulness has been debated. What is less known, however, is that this machine was discovered in a single copy, in a wreck discovered at the dawn of the XXe century, not far from the Greek island of Antikythera. L’wreck of Antikythera dates from about 60 years BC and is about forty meters long. It has many treasures to deliver and it is currently the subject of an underwater archaeological excavation campaign (program started in 2021 and planned until 2025). During the recent search period, from May to June, large blocks of rock weighing up to 8.5 tons were moved, allowing archaeologists to access portions of thewreck still unexplored.
use the head
They were thus able raise the head of a statue to the surface whose bust had been discovered a century earlier. This bearded head would represent, according to archaeologists, that of the demigod hercules. It completes the collection of heterogeneous remains delivered by the wreck such as a human skeleton nicknamed Pamphilos and jewelry. Two human teeth were also discovered in marine deposits, which will make it possible to carry out isotopic analyzes and to understand a little better who were the people on board this enigmatic ship which sank, nearly 2,000 years ago.
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