Search for Antikythera's hidden treasures begins: Archaeologists wear Exosuit to rummage through 2,200-year-old shipwreck
comments
Underwater archaeologists looking for buried treasures from an ancient shipwreck in Greece have begun testing their high-tech 'Exosuit'.
The equipment is being used to explore the Antikythera shipwreck, and has allowed them to dive to more than double the depths of previous expeditions.
It was on this location that the so-called Antikythera Mechanism - a 2nd-century BC device dubbed the world's oldest computer - was discovered by sponge divers in 1900 off the remote Greek island.
Scroll down for video
Underwater archaeologists looking for buried treasures from an ancient shipwreck in Greece have begun testing their high-tech 'Exosuit' (pictured being lowered into the sea)
The highly complex mechanism, consisting of up to 40 bronze cogs and gears, was used by the ancient Greeks to track the cycles of the solar system.
It was so advanced, it took another 1,500 years for an astrological clock of similar sophistication to be made in Europe.
Over the weekend, the team hoping to find the ancient computer posted a video to YouTube that shows the Exosuit being tested in Vatika Bay, near the Greek island of Antikythera.
The equipment is being used to explore the Antikythera shipwreck and has allowed them to dive to more than double the depths of previous expeditions (pictured)
Archaeologists, including Brendan Foley (pictured) have returned to the shipwreck of Antikythera using the Exosuit, which lets them dive to more than double the depths of previous expeditions. It was the site of the Antikythera Mechanism, a 2nd-century BC device dubbed the world's oldest computer, found in 1900
On Tuesday, the team wrote on their blog that Ed O'Brien from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution became the first person to dive using the Exosuit in the deep water off Antikythera.
In another blog post on the 29th September, they noted: 'The weather has really blown up in Antikythera, giving us a taste of how harsh conditions can be. No wonder there are many shipwrecks in the region.
The Exosuit, built in Canada by Nuytco Research, lets divers reach depths of 492ft (150 metres), while still performing delicate tasks, said archaeologist Theotokis Theodoulou.
Up until now, divers had only been able to operate at a depth of 196ft (60 metres).
The suit, which makes the wearer resemble Buzz Lightyear, 'expands our capabilities', continued Mr Theodoulou, and 'I'll be able to grasp, pluck, clench and dig... for several hours,' he added.
Archaeologists believe many other artefacts are yet to be discovered in and around the wreck.
The mechanism was found with a bronze statue of a youth in the wreck of a cargo ship apparently carrying treasures to Rome, and researchers are certain that other items on board still remain to be discovered.
'We have good signs that there are other objects present,' said Angeliki Simosi, head of Greece's directorate of underwater antiquities, after exploratory dives in the area in 2012 and 2013.
'There are dozens of items left, this was a ship bearing immense riches from Asia Minor,' added Dimitris Kourkoumelis, another archaeologist on the team.
The archaeologists also hope to confirm the presence of a second ship, some 820ft (250 metres) away from the original discovery site.
Antikythera, which now has a population of only 44, was once one of antiquity's busiest trade routes, and a base for Cilician pirates, some of whom once captured and held the young Julius Caesar for ransom.
He later had them all captured and crucified.
The Greek team is assisted by Brendan Foley, a marine archaeologist from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, which was involved in a dive to the wreck of the Titanic.
The Mechanism (pictured) was recovered from a Roman cargo shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera. Previous studies have shown it was used to chart the movement of planets and the passing of days and years. Scans in 2008 found that it may also have been used to predict eclipses
Foley has helped in outings to identify ancient shipwrecks over the last five years.
We may find one or more monumental statues that were left behind in 1901, in the mistaken belief that they were rocks,' Foley said.
As well as the new Exosuit, the Antikythera expedition will also use robot mapping equipment and new advanced closed-circuit 'rebreathers', which will allow divers much more time underwater.
'We will have more bottom time than any previous human visitors to the site, because we dive with mixed gas rebreathers,' the expedition's website said.
'Each diver will have more than 30 minutes of bottom time per day, and will enjoy greater mental acuity and a larger safety margin than that of previous divers at Antikythera.'
Antikythera (highlighted) which now has a population of only 44, was once one of antiquity's busiest trade routes, and a base for Cilician pirates, some of whom once captured and held the young Julius Caesar for ransom. He later had them all captured and crucified
WHAT IS THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM?
The Mechanism was recovered in 1900 from the Antikythera wreck - a Roman cargo shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera.
It was discovered in a wooden box measuring 13 inchesx7 inchesx3.5 inches (340×180×90mm) and consists of bronze dials, gears and cogs.
A further 81 fragments have since been found containing a total of 40 hand-cut bronze gears.
The mechanism is said to have been created in around 100BC, and is believed to be the world's oldest calculator.
Previous studies have shown that it was used to chart the movement of planets and the passing of days and years.
More than 80 fragments of the Mechanism have been found, containing a total of 40 hand-cut bronze gears (pictured)
Scans of the mechanism in 2008 found that it may also have been used to predict eclipses, and record important events in the Greek calendar, such as the Olympic Games.
Astronomer Professor Mike Edmunds of Cardiff University said at the time: 'It is more complex than any other known device for the next 1,000 years.'
The scans also revealed the mechanism was originally housed in a rectangular wooden frame with two doors, covered in instructions for its use.
At the front was a single dial showing the Greek zodiac and an Egyptian calendar.
On the back were two further dials displaying information about lunar cycles and eclipses.
The calculator would have been driven by a hand crank.
The mechanism recorded several important astronomical cycles known to the Babylonians hundreds of years before that help predict eclipses.
These include the Saros cycle - a period of around 18 years separating the return of the moon, Earth and sun to the same relative positions.
The device could track the movements of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn - the only planets known at the time, the position of the sun, and the location and phases of the moon.
The researchers have been able to read all the month names on a 19-year calendar on the back of the mechanism.
The month names are Corinthian - suggest that it may have been built in the Corinthian colonies in north-western Greece or Syracuse in Sicily.
The device was created at a time when the Romans had gained control of much of Greece.
The Mechanism is on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
'
Put the internet to work for you.
0 comments:
Post a Comment