Treasure found on the Antikythera's ancient shipwreck

More than 100 years ago, the divers who searching the sponge sea in Greece discovered the ruins of an ancient ship that full of treasure, from the period of 70-60 BC. At that time the sea sponge divers found the wreck in 1900 off the coast of Antikythera, a small island in Greece with a steep cliff.
And from this place also in 1900, archaeologists have found a very interesting artifacts, such as statues of the heroes, 4 horse statue made ​​of marble and bronze, jewelry, furniture, glass furniture, and the Antikythera Mechanism - which is believed to be the oldest computer in Earth.

82 surviving fragments of the Antikythera Mechanism. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1xIxG4J)

The device like an analog computer that is expected to come from the Greek culture that developed around 100 BC, it was used to determine the astronomical position of the heavenly bodies - and perhaps time the Olympics - with a complex mechanism, using a series of bronze gears.

Reconstruction of the Antikythera Mechanism by Allan Bromley and Frank Percival. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1xIxG4J)

The Antikythera mechanism is derived from a time long before the modern humans have an understanding of astronomy and physics. The artifacts were made ​​more than 1,600 years before Galileo Galilei was born, and more than 1,700 years before Isaac Newton was born into the world.

Greek diver Alexandros Sotiriou discovers an intact table jug and a bronze rigging ring. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1xIxG4J)

There is a lot of speculation about the ship. Many believe that the ship sailed from the coast of Asia Minor to Rome and sank between 70-60 BC. The ship may bring the bride and her luxury dowry.

Return to Antikythera project chief diver 
Philip Short inspects the bronze spear 
recovered from the Antikythera Ship-
wreck. (Picture from:  http://bit.ly/1xIxG4J)

However, to explore the site in the past is an act of huge risk and hazards. At least then, a diver was killed and 2 others crippled. And several decades later, in 1978, Jacques Cousteau back to ancient shipwrecks and raised a number of other treasures. And now, with advanced technology, the researchers are trying to uncover the mystery of the sinking of the ship: the story is also a puzzle about the existence of a second ship.

And now in the latest investigation, the archaeologists discovered tableware, ship components, and the giant bronze spear. The ancient weapons were allegedly attached to a statue of the goddess Athena or the equestrian knight. A number of previous expeditions to find a number of statues made ​​of bronze and marble.

"Evidence suggests this is the biggest ancient shipwreck ever found," said Brendan Foley, a marine archaeologist from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts, as quoted by LiveScience, on Friday, October 10, 2014. "It is the Titanic of the ancient world."

 

The excavation efforts conducted on September 15 to October 7, 2014, led Hellenic Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities of Greece, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution from the United States. 

WHOI's diving safety officer Edward O'Brien pilots the Exosuit, suspended from the Hellenic Navy vessel THETIS. This one-of-a-kind diving outfit could eventually help underwater archaeologists explore deep sunken ships like the Antikythera wreck. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1niMwhq)

The shipwreck debris lies at a depth of 55 meters, and the divers are required to use a rebreather - the device that allows the recycling of the oxygen content of each breath that is substantially unused. However, time is on the sea floor is restricted only for 3 hours.

The expedition also fielded robotic submarine-like Iron Man that called Exosuit which could stay under of the sea for about 50 hours, to conduct exploration. This exploration also using a high-resolution 3-dimensional map.

The team plans to return next year. They believe there are many treasures waiting to be discovered. Brendan Foley admitted to the BBC, he hopes to find the missing pieces of the Antikythera Mechanism which can unravel the mysteries of the antique device. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | LIVESCIENCE | SCINEWS]

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