Ancient Antikythera shipwreck has more secrets to reveal

In 2015, researchers began carrying out a five-year study of the ancient Greek shipwreck off Antikythera Island that had onboard the famous Antikythera mechanism, hailed as the world’s first computing device, as well as other treasures. An analysis of the wreck at that time identified two areas with artifacts and ship remnants, leading archaeologists to believe that there may have been another ship that went down simultaneously. Alternatively, the two areas of remnants may be separate parts of the Antikythera wreck after it split in two.

Greek officials approved the extension of studies of the ancient vessel, which may have been 50 meters (164 feet) long. Researchers are expecting to find more treasures from the ship, which is located at the bottom of  the Aegean Sea, in the south of Greece. This time they will focus on areas where they’ve found metal objects and pottery in the past.

In 2016, the underwater work gave big results – a skeleton. Archaeologists have dubbed the human remains Pamphilos. They believe Pamphilos was in his late teens to early 20s when he died. They hope to be able to access the skeleton’s DNA and gain some insight on the people who died in the shipwreck. Brendan Foley of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, said, “This is the most exciting scientific discovery we’ve made here. We think he was trapped in the ship when it went down and he must have been buried very rapidly or the bones would have gone by now.”