03-07-2025
Ancient shipwreck hid dozens of treasures — until now. See the finds in Greece
Off the coast of a Greek island sits the Antikythera shipwreck, a 2,000-year-old wreck with a story that inspired an Indiana Jones movie. From its beginnings as an accidental discovery to the recent excavation of its ancient treasures, the wreck's secrets are still being uncovered.
Sponge divers happened upon the Antikythera shipwreck, named after the nearby island, in 1900. Initial explorations identified the ship as a trading vessel sunk during the first century B.C. and recovered a geared mechanical device. The mysterious item helped with astronomy calculations and later inspired the 2023 film 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.'
Despite being 'the richest ancient wreck ever discovered,' research on the Antikythera wreck has historically been quite limited, according to the international team leading work at the site. For decades, the shipwreck sat too deep for regular scuba divers but not deep enough for remotely operated vehicles.
Marine archaeologists finally began exploring the 2,000-year-old ship in recent years with the aid of specialized technology.
One such project began in 2021 and ended this summer, Greece's Ministry of Culture and Sports said in a July 1 news release.
Photos shared by Return to Antikythera in a news release show some of the latest artifacts recovered from the wreck.
This year, the team focused on bringing a section of the ancient wooden hull back to the surface, officials said. The planks were located in 2024 about 700 feet away from the original wreck and interpreted as possible evidence of a second sunken ship.
Researchers did an initial analysis of the wood and tentatively dated it to around 235 B.C., officials said. The newly recovered planks were also thinner than planks from the original wreck site, suggesting they could be from a second smaller ship.
Marine archaeologists also identified more fragments of ancient sculptures, including a male standing figure, the ministry said. Most of these artifacts were too encrusted to be removed.
A photo shows one statue piece, part of a person's bare foot, that was brought to the surface.
Other artifacts found on the Antikythera wreck included some pottery fragments identified as Chian amphorae and one rare type of spouted basin known as a clay mortar, officials said. The clay pot was used for preparing food aboard the ship, so archaeologists hope it will provide more information about the crew's diet and daily life.
Researchers plan to continue analyzing their finds. It's unclear if the team plans to do any further excavations.
Antikythera Island is roughly 150 miles southwest of Athens and north of Crete.
Google Translate was used to translate the news release from Greece's Ministry of Culture and Sports and the Return to Antikythera.
