Roundup: Greek Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities celebrates 40 years of work, presents latest finds

For 40 years, Greek Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities has documented and protected rich underwater heritage of the country. It marked the 40th anniversary of its establishment on Friday.

During a one-day conference hosted at the new Acropolis Museum, the public were presented the latest impressive findings of archaeological research in the period 2015-2016, including a short video of a Xinhua production this autumn at the submerged ancient city at Epidavros port in the Peloponnese peninsula.

Angeliki Simosi, head of the ephorate, gave a comprehensive overview of their numerous projects across Greece in the past two years, which include expeditions in cooperation with foreign institutes at famous shipwrecks and sites, such as the Britannic -- Titanic's sister ship, off Kea island, as well as new discoveries.

The famous Antikythera Roman era shipwreck first rediscovered by sponge divers in 1900 at the depth of 50 meters, for example, yielded new remarkable discoveries in the past two years, including a human skeleton, a golden ring, a bronze spear and fragments of statues during the first expedition held at the site since 1976.

At Fournoi, near the island of Ikaria, also in the Aegean Sea, archaeologists traced some 45 shipwrecks from antiquity and the Middle Ages, making the archipelago one of the richest sea regions in ancient artefacts in the Mediterranean, Simosi underlined.

At Lechaion, ancient Corinth's partially submerged harbor town, ongoing underwater excavations revealed the infrastructure of more than a thousand years of flourishing maritime trade.

The long list of projects could not be realized in the difficult times what debt-laden Greece experiences in recent years without the substantial financial support of sponsors in Greece and abroad, both Simosi and other Greek culture ministry officials and experts stressed.

During Friday's event, the audience was also given a preview of a short trailer of a Xinhua production made this September at the ancient port of Epidavros.

For the first time after four decades with the use of drone and underwater filming made by Xinhua, Greek archaeologists were allowed to have a closer look at the sunken architectural remains. Participants in the conference saw the ruins of the ancient breakwaters and a Roman era mansion.

"It is breathtaking," Stamatina Barouxi, a pensioner teacher, told Xinhua after the screening.

From Friday until March 31, 2017, on display at the foyer of the Acropolis Museum will be one of the most spectacular finds of the Ephorate in recent years: the bronze statue of a rider found in the sea south of the island of Kalymnos dated back to the 2nd century BC.

The torso and legs of the figure who is believed to be a military officer, as well as a head which is most likely part of the same statue, were caught in fishing nets in 2006 and 2009. Endit