Antikythera shipwreck may actually be two ships

Published on January 16th, 2013 | by Sevaan Franks

An underwater archaeologist from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution believes that the wreckage where the Antikythera mechanism was discovered might actually be two ships.

“Either way, it’s an exciting result,” said study researcher Brendan Foley, an archaeologist at Woods Hold Oceanographic Institution who presented the findings here today (Jan. 4) at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America.

The Antikythera wreck is famed for the massive number of artifacts pulled from the site over the past century. First discovered in the early 1900s by local sponge divers, the wreck is most famous for the Antikythera mechanism, a complex bronze gear device used to calculate astronomical positions (and perhaps the timing of the Olympic games). Numerous bronze and marble statues, jars and figurines have also been pulled from the wreck. The ship went down in the first century B.C.

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Story: Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience | Photo: Hellenic Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities and WHOI

Tags: Antikythera Device, Antikythera Mechanism, Greece, Shipwrecks