The beginnings of submarine research in the Mediterranean

Until recently, the first archaeological project to explore the nature of the position of an underwater marine, mining was considered one of the ancient statues of cargo ships into the island flooded Antikithirą (Greece) and near the town of Mahdii (Tunisia). Commonly these shares is called research, but be aware that their conduct had nothing to do with archaeological research, in today's sense. They consisted mainly on the extraction of cargo in the form of sculptures, in which documentation was not performed, and pieces of the hull of the ship had been destroyed. Its cargo unit has proved very valuable for archaeologists, art historians, museum. Because they contained valuable antique statues, or their copies, including those made of bronze, which were not previously known from terrestrial stations. The actions of those used sponge divers - who were also the discoverers of the wreck - and supervise their work, archaeologists from the deck of the ship. From the wreckage of a sunken into Antykithyrą, acquired several pieces of wood sheathing, which have been archaeological analysis, however, due to their poor state of preservation did not produce reliable data.