10. One of History’s Most Mysterious Archaeological Finds
In the ancient world, the Mediterranean Sea was not a barrier between the civilizations that bordered its shores. Instead, it was a convenient watery highway that facilitated trade and exchanges between the Mediterranean’s peoples. In the eastern part of that sea is the small island of Antikythera, between the Peloponnesus and Crete. It lies roughly halfway along the sea lanes used by ships that ply the waters between Asia Minor and Italy. In antiquity as well as now, Antikythera’s jagged coastline was hazardous, and ships were frequently dashed to destruction on its rocks.
That was the fate of an unfortunate vessel that was en route to the western Mediterranean sometime around 65 BC, when it and its cargo of commercial goods, which included luxury items, sank off the island. The wreck lay forgotten at the sea bottom until 1900. That spring, fishermen who often dove for sponges off Antikythera spotted a bronze hand that stuck out of the sediment, at a depth of about 150 feet. They informed Greek officials, who then directed an archaeological search around what was identified as a sunken ship. It came to be known as the Antikythera Wreck, and as seen below, its contents yielded one of history’s most mysterious archaeological finds.
