Greek shipwreck bones can build ancient mariner's profile

Archaeologists excavating one of the richest shipwrecks of antiquity said Monday that they have found a 2,000-year-old depth-measuring device, and human bones that could help build an ancient mariner's genetic profile.

The 1st century BC wreck of a large freighter discovered off the southern Greek island of Antikythera more than a century ago has yielded an ancient astronomical computer, marble statues, tableware and thousands of other artifacts.

Human bones were found there before, but that was before DNA testing was available. The discovery of remains that old on the seabed is unusual.

The Massachusetts-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, which is conducting the excavation with the Greek Culture Ministry, said that if enough viable DNA was preserved, the bones could shed light on the shipwreck victim's ethnicity and geographic origin.

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