Return to Antikythera: what divers discovered in the deep

Divers returning to the site of an ancient wreck off the Greek island of Antikythera have found artefacts scattered over a wide area of the steep, rocky sea floor. These include intact pottery, the ship's anchor and some puzzling bronze objects. The team believes that hundreds more items could be buried in the sediment nearby.

The Antikythera wreck, which dates from the first century BC, yielded a glittering haul when sponge divers discovered it at the beginning of the 20th century. Among jewellery, weapons and statues were the remains of a mysterious clockwork device, dubbed the Antikythera mechanism.

Bar a brief visit by the undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau in the 1970s (featured in his documentary Diving for Roman Plunder), no one had visited the wreck since, leading to speculation about what treasures might still be down there. The locals told tales of giant marble statues lying beyond the sponge divers' reach, while ancient technology geeks like me wondered whether the site might be hiding another Antikythera mechanism, or at least some clues as to whom this mysterious object belonged to.

Cue all-round excitement when in October last year, a team of divers led by Brendan Foley of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Aggeliki Simossi of Greece's Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, went back for a proper look. The divers used James Bond-style propulsion vehicles equipped with high-resolution video cameras to circumnavigate the island at about 40 metres depth. Now the photos released by the team show some of what they found.

1 posted on 03/27/2013 4:54:11 PM PDT by BenLurkin

Maybe they’ll find a user’s manual for that device!

2 posted on 03/27/2013 5:13:36 PM PDT by Fresh Wind (The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.)

Maybe they’ll find a user’s manual for that device!

"This papyrus kept intentionally blank."

-PJ

3 posted on 03/27/2013 5:16:02 PM PDT by Political Junkie Too (If you are the Posterity of We the People, then you are a Natural Born Citizen.)

‘Made in China’

4 posted on 03/27/2013 5:30:53 PM PDT by Hammerhead

You'd think an article boasitng pictures would include some snapshots of the "puzzling bronze objects" allegedly unearthed in their dig.

5 posted on 03/27/2013 5:59:54 PM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both)

Maybe they’ll find a user’s manual for that device!

The toll-free telephone number rings in India. Bob answers. It's time to restart the device.

6 posted on 03/27/2013 6:06:20 PM PDT by Standing Wolf

It’s a part of the time machine that Broncho Bammer used to fake his BC.

7 posted on 03/27/2013 6:35:44 PM PDT by spokeshave (The only people better off today than 4 years ago are the Prisoners at Guantanamo.)


GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe

Thanks BenLurkin. Antikythera -- I think Peter Tork sang that one. Famed Roman Shipwreck Could Be Two Astronomy Picture of the Day -- The Antikythera Mechanism Return to Antikythera: Divers revisit wreck where ancient computer found Lego Antikythera Mechanism Ancient astronomy: Mechanical inspiration Shining a light on the past Coast-2-Coast AM Saturday Sept 26th -Mysterious Artifact (Antikythera mechanism) Shocking Discovery: a PC in B.C.? (Antikythera Mechanism) Archimedes and the 2000-year-old computer Secrets of Antikythera Mechanism, world's oldest calculating machine, revealed Discovering How Greeks Computed in 100 B.C. Medieval Calculator Up For Grabs OOPARTS (Out of Place Artifacts) Astronomy Picture of the day Enigma of ancient world's computer is cracked at last In search of lost time (Antikythera Mechanism) Scientists Unravel Mystery of Ancient Greek Machine An Ancient Computer Surprises Scientists (2200yo Roman computer!) Ancient calculator was 1,000 yrs ahead of its time Were Greeks 1,400 years ahead of their time? The Antikythera Mechanism (Computer - 56BC) Kurzweil featured on new syndicated radio show "Science Fantastic" hosted by Michio Kaku Unearthing the Treasures of the Mediterranean The Antikythera Mechanism: Physical and Intellectual Salvage from the 1st Century B.C. Strange stories, weird facts Did The Ancient Greeks Make A Computer? Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

8 posted on 03/27/2013 7:06:22 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)

9 posted on 03/27/2013 9:31:27 PM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both)

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