text: Marine archaeologists have recovered a bronze arm from an ancient shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera, where the remains of at least seven more priceless statues from the classical world are believed to lie buried. 
   
   Divers found the right arm, encrusted and stained green, under half a metre of sediment on the boulder-strewn slope where the ship and its cargo now rest. The huge vessel, perhaps 50m from bow to stern, was sailing from Asia Minor to Rome in 1BC when it foundered near the tiny island between Crete and the Peloponnese. 
   
   The project team, from the Greek Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities and Lund University in Sweden, discovered the buried arm with a bespoke underwater metal detector which has revealed the presence of other large metal objects nearby under the seabed. “There should be at least seven statues,” Alexandros Sotiriou, a Greek technical diver on the team told the Guardian. The operation is overseen by Ageliki Simosi, director of the Greek Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, which is responsible for all underwater archaeology in Greece. 
   
   Facebook Twitter Pinterest Detail of the arm discovered under half a metre of sediment by the ancient shipwreck. Photograph: Brett Seymour/EUA/ARGO 2017 
   
   “What we’re finding is these sculptures are in among and under the boulders,” said Brendan Foley, co-director of the excavations team at Lund University. “We think it means a minimum of seven, and potentially nine, bronze sculptures still waiting for us down there.” The boulders that overlie the metal objects weigh several tonnes and may have tumbled onto the wreck during a massive earthquake that shook Antikythera and surrounding islands in the 4th century AD. 
   
   The bronze arm, probably from a statue of a male, is the highlight of the team’s 2017 excavation season. Among other objects the divers recovered are a patterned slab of red marble the size of a tea tray, a silver tankard, sections of joined wood from the ship’s frame, and a human bone. Last year, the team found the skull, teeth, ribs and other bones of an individual who perished on the wreck. They have since extracted DNA from the skull and from it learned the individual’s sex and where they came from. Until those results are published, the person is known as Pamphilos after divers found the name, meaning “friend of all”, carved on a buried cup that had been decorated with an erotic scene. 
   
   The Antikythera wreck first came to light in 1900 when Greek sponge divers happened on the scene in 50 metres of water. Archaeologists have since pulled up spectacular bronze and marble statues, ornate glass and pottery, stunning pieces of jewellery, and a remarkable geared device – the Antikythera mechanism – which modelled the motion of the heavens. During the 2017 excavations, divers recovered a bronze disc that may be a missing part of the ancient device. 
   
   But it is the statues that made the wreck famous. In the 1900s, archaeologists working at the site surfaced pieces of a beautiful Hellenistic bronze, named the Antikythera Youth. The statue now stands in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens alongside an impressive bronze head named the Antikythera philosopher, also hauled from the wreck. Both date to the 4th century BC, raising the question of how they came to be aboard the ill-fated ship 300 years later. 
   
   Jens Daehner, associate curator of antiquities at the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, said the Antikythera wreck had already yielded significant bronze statues. “The chance to recover another group of lifesize statues associated with the wreck is extraordinary, because bronzes are usually encountered randomly under the sea, picked up by fishing nets or chanced upon by divers,” he said. “Those finds are not excavated like at Antikythera, where archaeologists can and do document the entire context, which provides all the sorts of very valuable data as to when the sculptures were transported and why they were on the ship: for trade, as booty, or as scrap metal to be recycled.” 
   
   Facebook Twitter Pinterest As well as the arm, divers have recovered a patterned slab of red marble the size of a tea tray, a silver tankard, sections of joined wood from the ship’s frame and a human bone. Photograph: Brett Seymour/EUA/ARGO 2017 
   
   The bronze recycling industry was huge in classical times and later in the medieval period, leading to the destruction of countless statues and other artefacts that would be priceless today. For this reason, many of the finest specimens of bronze statues that survive were once lost at sea. “Ancient bronze sculpture in general is rare due to the metal having been recycled in antiquity and later. We think of the ones from the sea as those that got away,” said Daehner. “Any chance to recover more Greek sculptures in any medium, but particularly in bronze, should not be missed.” 
   
   To recover the statues will take a massive effort. The divers must first remove boulders that are in their way, either by hauling them up, or by drilling holes in the rocks and filling them with grout that expands to fracture the stone. Another option is to crack the boulders open with small shaped charges that technical divers use to rescue people trapped when undersea caves collapse. But even if the statues can be lifted from the sea, they will be broken and need costly and time-consuming conservation and reconstruction. 
   
   Statues are not the only objects the excavators hope to find. The latest excavations uncovered a lump of material bearing a bronze disc that matches the size of geared wheels found in the Antikythera mechanism. Wound by a handle, the device showed the movement of the sun, moon and planets in the sky, but not all of the machine was recovered. “The disc looks very exciting indeed,” said Andrew Ramsey, a CT specialist at Nikon Metrology in Tring, who used CT scans to read inscriptions on the original pieces of the mechanism. But the disc may be something entirely different. Preliminary x-ray images reveal no teeth, but an image of a bull, suggesting the disc is not a cog but a decorative item. 
   
   Facebook Twitter Pinterest Divers also discovered this piece of material bearing a bronze disc that matches the size of geared wheels found in the Antikythera mechanism. Photograph: Brett Seymour/EUA/ARGO 2017 
   
   Mike Edmunds, emeritus professor of astrophysics at Cardiff University and a member of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, said the findings are impressive. “They are getting very good at detecting bronze items which raises the possibility that they may be able to find either the missing planetary gearing from the Antikythera mechanism, which we know is there from the analysis of the inscriptions on the mechanism, or a new piece of mechanism, or another mechanism that was being transported, and that would be very exciting.” 
   
   The team will return to the wreck in the spring, optimistic that they may pull up fresh treasures from the wreck. “It’s not going to be just the bronze sculptures,” said Foley. “We’re down in the hold of the ship now, so all the other things that would have been carried should be down there as well. Every day is going to be like opening Tut’s tomb.” ||||| A trove of new artifacts have been recovered from the Roman-era wreck that yielded the mysterious Antikythera Mechanism, including an arm made of bronze and a strange metal disc. But most intriguing of all, the latest survey suggests that seven bronze statues are still waiting to be discovered. 
   
   The Antikythera shipwreck is the gift that keeps on giving. 
   
   The latest expedition, led by the Greek Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, Lund University, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, was conducted between September 4 to 20, and as per previous trips to the wreck, the team did not leave disappointed. With excellent weather conditions above them, the divers managed to recover an “orphaned” right arm of a bronze statue, pottery shards, nails, lead sheathing fragments, and an odd metal disc, among other artifacts. 
   
   Excitingly, scans with a metal detector indicated the presence of at least seven undiscovered and priceless bronze statues buried near the sunken ship, which sank off the Greek island of Antikythera in 1 BC. The doomed vessel was filled with art pieces and luxury items, including the Antikythera Mechanism—a geared device used to predict astronomical events such as eclipses and the movements of the Sun, Moon, and planets. The 50-foot-long Roman-era ship sunk near the tiny island between Crete and Peloponnese. 
   
   Prior to this latest expedition, the Return to Antikythera project team managed to recover glassware, luxury ceramics, anchors, counterweights, tools, and even an ancient skeleton (which is currently being analyzed for DNA). During the recently concluded trip to the wreck, divers investigated areas where fragments of marble and bronze statues had been found before, and which were located near and underneath large stone boulders. Regrettably, the wreck happens to be located on a slope, and over the years, a succession of earthquakes has delivered numerous rocks and boulders to the site. 
   
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   One of the more interesting items pulled from the wreck is a sediment-encrusted metal disc measuring about eight centimeters across, and with four metal arms with holes for pins. 
   
   At first glance, the archaeologists thought it might be related to the Antikythera Mechanism, specifically a missing gear that was likely used to calculate the positions of the planets. But after performing an x-ray analysis of the disc, the researchers realized it wasn’t a gear at all, but some kind of decorative object adorned with the image of a bull. They suspect it was attached to the shield of a statue, or even to the ship itself. 
   
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   The researchers also found part of a bronze robe or toga, fragments of the ship-shell (namely bits of the skeletal frame and planking), and a bare leg attached to a base that was lodged underneath a boulder. The discovery of the bronze arm, plus the metal detector findings, boosts the number of bronze statues suspected to reside at the site. 
   
   
   
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   “What we’re finding is these sculptures are in among and under the boulders,” explained team member Brendan Foley to The Guardian. “We think it means a minimum of seven, and potentially nine, bronze sculptures still waiting for us down there.” 
   
   
   
   Bronze statues are exceptionally rare, with only about 50 known to reside from this period. During both the classical and medieval eras, bronze recycling was an important industry—one that resulted in the destruction of countless statues and other artifacts that would, by today’s standards, be priceless. Ironically, some of the finest bronze relics from this era were recovered from shipwrecks. 
   
   
   
   Once these suspected bronze statues are located, a truly herculean effort will be required to pull them out. The archaeologists have several options, including hauling the rocks up or fracturing them into smaller pieces. Regardless, it’ll be a slow, costly, and tedious process. The next expedition is planned for the spring of 2018, at which time the archaeologists plan to explore the hold of the sunken ship. 
   
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   Which, whoa. 
   
   [Return to Antikythera Mission, Guardian] ||||| See Statues and Mysterious Disk Found in Ancient Greek Shipwreck WATCH: The site made famous by the Antikythera mechanism continues to yield fascinating discoveries. ALSO: There's additional footage from the expedition at the end of the article. 
   
   Bronze limbs, a sarcophagus lid, marble statue pieces, and a mysterious bronze disk were among the remains found during excavations of one of the world's most ancient—and famous—shipwrecks. 
   
   Greece's Division of Underwater Antiquities—a government agency that's part of the country's ministry of archaeology—announced their finds Wednesday after several weeks of excavations, which lasted from September 4 to 20. Located just off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera 180 feet below the sea, the so-called Antikythera shipwreck can yield insights into Roman culture during its heyday. 
   
   "[Marine archaeologists] have found a very big treasure of statues of marble and bronze and other items," said expedition co-leader Aggeliki Simossi. 
   
   According to Simossi, the first century B.C. merchant ship would have been bound for Rome, where wealthy members of Roman society decorated their villas with Grecian art. Large for its time, the ship measured roughly 130 feet long, meaning a large stash of artifacts was on board when it set sail for Italy. 
   
   Video taken during the excavation shows the archaeologists pulling a realistic sculpture fragment of an arm from the elbow to the fingers. The open tilt of some of the statues' hands, with fingers seeming to gesture up and outward, suggest they were modeled after philosophers. 
   
   While the statues would likely have been considered high art in their day, perhaps the most intriguing artifact found is a small, bronze disk. Punctuated with holes and decorated with the image of a bull, it's unclear what the disk was used for, said Simossi. 
   
   Watch how a team of marine archaeologists excavated the ancient ship and (at minute seven) uncovered its mysterious remains. 
   
   "It is maybe decoration for furniture or maybe a seal, or it could be an instrument," she said. "It is very early to say." 
   
   It's also reminiscent of the Antikythera mechanism, a small, bronze disk that measures celestial movements with impressive accuracy. That piece was found among the ship's remains in 2006. The mechanism is so accurate, in fact, that it's often referred to as an "ancient computer." 
   
   The team of archaeologists, co-led by Simossi and archaeologist Brendan Foley from Lund University in Sweden, will continue studying the remains of this year's haul, before returning to the shipwreck site in May of 2018 for more excavations. 
   
   While Simossi said this year's field work yielded a bigger haul than previous years, the Antikythera shipwreck has been the archaeological gift that keeps on giving. It was first discovered in 1900 by sponge divers, who spotted limbs from bronze statues. 
   
   The "orphan" limbs, as they're called by archaeologists, suggested early on that more treasure was waiting to be found. Famous French marine explorer Jacques Cousteau excavated the ruins in 1976, finding additional statues and some smaller artifacts. (Read more about Jacques Cousteau's work and why he was so influential.) 
   
   While the site has been well known for over 100 years, excavations have been intermittent since Cousteau's trip in the 1970s. Foley's focus on the region in 2014 renewed archaeological interest. Perhaps one of the most significant finds came during September of last year, when archaeologists found human remains at the site. It was the first opportunity to examine 2,000-year-old DNA from the wreck, which may provide more clues about its history. The DNA is still being analyzed but initial work suggests it was likely a young male. 
   
   Discussing the find in 2016 with Nature, Foley speculated that the ship sank suddenly and from natural conditions—most likely a storm.
target: – The ship bound for Rome sunk in 1BC and was first discovered off the coast of Greece in 1900. And yet the Antikythera shipwreck is still providing new discoveries. The Guardian reports an expedition to the site last month turned up a silver tankard, a human bone, and much more. Perhaps most exciting: the arm of a bronze statue and evidence that the remains of at least seven bronze statues are still buried there. Previous bronze statues found at the Antikythera shipwreck were dated to the 4th century BC. Bronze statues from that time period are extremely rare, with only about 50 known in the world, according to Gizmodo. National Geographic reports that based on the positioning of the fingers, the newly discovered arm may belong to a statue modeled on a philosopher. Recovering the rest of the statue—and the others at the site—won't be easy. The Antikythera shipwreck is 180 feet underwater on a slope and has been buried by boulders from a succession of earthquakes starting in the 4th century AD. It will take a lot of time and money to move the boulders, recover the statues, and reconstruct them. Also discovered in last month's expedition was a mysterious bronze disc that the dive team originally thought could be a missing component of the famous Antikythera Mechanism. The mechanism, often called an "ancient computer," could predict eclipses and the movements of various heavenly bodies and was discovered at the site. However, X-rays of the disc show it's engraved with a bull and was likely a piece of decoration for a statue or the ship itself. The next expedition to the Antikythera shipwreck is scheduled for spring 2018. (An odd item was found at the site in 2016.)