Nicknamed the “ self-aggrandising Fat Greek Expedition , ” archeologists this week have embarked on a new mission to research an ancient wreckage where one of the most complicated scientific antiques in existence was strike over 100 year ago in the Aegean Sea .
Theantikythera chemical mechanism , which was found inside a Roman wreck near the Greek island of Antikythera , is an ancient computer reckon to be at least 2,000 eld onetime . It ’s believed that this complex clock - like twist was used by ancient Greeks to compute the movement of the star and planets . The mechanics was indite of at least 30 unlike bronze gears and the whole affair was housed in a wooden frame that was decorated with at least 2,000 characters .
The history of this gimmick is shroud in mystery . It is unclear how this intricate twist ended up in the hands of Romans , but some believe the sick - fated ship wastransferring a womanof importance to be married in Rome . The mechanism , among other impressive wealth on circuit board , may have been a marriage gift from her family . Thanks to carbon dating , we eff that this booty - laden ship sank around 60 B.C.
Eager to see out more about this enigmatical antique , researchers are returning to the wreckage with the aid of a sophisticated diving event suit that is taking them deep than they ’ve ever been before . The$1.3 million exosuitwill allow the squad to plunge to depths of150 meters(492 ft ) and carefully search the ship for several hours . But before they institutionalise underwater diver down , the team will first use arobotto map out the wreck and the seafloor around it . This will hopefully also substantiate the bearing of asecond shipthat researchers surmise Lie nearby .
Since archeologists have antecedently only been able to mesh at a depth of60 cadence , the squad is confident that their calendar month - long expedition will yield many other artefacts . So far , 36 marble statue , several bronze statues , gold jewelry and human stiff have beenrecoveredfrom the wreck . “ There are dozen of items left , this was a ship bearing vast wealth from Asia Minor , ” Dimitris Kourkoumelis , an archeologist on the team , toldAFP . But to the researcher , the actual hoarded wealth is the missing piece of the mechanism .
While the researchers have no idea what they may happen upon in the wreckage , any excess data that can help excuse the gadget ’s extraordinary first one C B.C. descent would be exciting to say the least .
[ ViaAFPandYahooTech ]
