AncientPages.com - The 2,700-year-old ceramic sculpture of a Cypriot goddess was discovered off the coast of the Bozburun, in the western province of Muğla’s Marmaris, Turkey. The sculpture is probably the biggest one in the history of Turkish underwater history.
Researchers found only the lower half of the ceramic figure along with ceramic dinner plates and ancient Greek jars – amphoras, scattered around the sculpture across an area of approx. 300 square meters.
“We found such a big terra-cotta sculpture for the first time on the coasts of our country. Current researches show that the sea was the most important means of communication among Mediterranean civilizations in the ancient ages," Professor Harun Özdaş, the head of the excavations conducted by Dokuz Eylül University (DEU) Marine Science and Technology Institute, said.
Now, using these traces, we study the civilizations that lived on the coast of our country.”
The ceramic sculpture was first seen detected 141 feet underwater, under piles of sand after long examinations of a ship wreckage, discovered in November, 2016.
The find dates back to the archaic period, one of the earliest periods of Mediterranean culture (800 BC–480 BC).
“When we cleaned its surroundings, we saw the toes of the sculpture. It made us very excited. Then we uncovered the lower part of the body. The goddess sculpture had a dress on it. We know that such sculptures were made of two pieces."
This unique artifact belongs to a bare-footed woman wearing a long dress. The figure’s original size is 1.20 centimeters. Excavations will be continued to find the upper part of the sculpture.
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