Excavation of Lord Elgin’s shipwrecked brig “Mentor” off Kythira yields more passenger items (photos)

The excavation was carried out by the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities and archaeologist Dimitris Kourkoumelis

Underwater exploration this September of the historic wreck of “Mentor”, a brig which belonged to Lord Elgin and sank off Kythira Island in 1802 carrying antiquities of the Acropolis, revealed more information about the brig’s construction, Greece’s Ministry of Culture said on Tuesday, according to ANA.

(Measurements and stamping of the brig’ keel Photo: Hellenic Ministry of Culture – Underwater Antiquities Ephorate /Alexis Tourtas)

The excavation was carried out by the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities and archaeologist Dimitris Kourkoumelis.

“The Mentor, which belonged to Lord Elgin, sank during a storm in the St. Nicholas cove in southeastern Kythira in 1802, while transporting part of the antiquities Lord Elgin’s team had removed from the Parthenon, the Acropolis and other Athens monuments,” the Ministry of Culture noted.

(Leaded lining in the ship’s keel area Photo: Hellenic Ministry of Culture – Underwater Antiquities Ephorate /Alexis Tourtas)

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