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. 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 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. 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. “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 Antikythera wreck first came to light in 1900 when Greek sponge divers happened on the scene in 50 metres of water.  See Statues and Mysterious Disk Found in Ancient Greek Shipwreck WATCH: The site made famous by the Antikythera mechanism continues to yield fascinating discoveries. Both date to the 4th century BC, raising the question of how they came to be aboard the ill-fated ship 300 years later. 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. 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. 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 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. The next expedition is planned for the spring of 2018, at which time the archaeologists plan to explore the hold of the sunken ship.
– 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.)