Trending Now - Divers Recover Marble Artifacts Linked to Parthenon From Shipwreck

WHO:

Greece's Ministry of Culture

Thomas Bruce, the seventh Earl of Elgin, also known as Lord Elgin

British Museum

WHAT:

Archaeologists discovered a marble fragment among the remains of a shipwreck.

The marble fragment measures approximately 3.6 inches by 1.85 inches at its longest and widest points.

The Mentor, a brig owned by Lord Elgin, sank in September 1802.

The marble fragment includes a sculptural feature resembling a water droplet.

Most cargo aboard the Mentor has already been raised, including fragments of utensils and a clay slab.

WHERE:

The shipwreck is located off the coast of the Greek island of Kythira, specifically southeast of the island.

The Mentor sank in a spot off the fishing port of Avlemonas in southeastern Kythira.

The Acropolis is located in Athens, Greece.

WHEN:

The Mentor sank in September 1802.

Modern-day excavations of the shipwreck have been ongoing since 2009.

The British Museum acquired the sculptures salvaged from the Mentor in 1816.

WHY:

Greece has sought to recover the "Elgin Marbles," which were taken from the Acropolis by Lord Elgin in the early 1800s.

Greece claims that Elgin did not have the required permission to remove the sculptures, as Greece was under Ottoman control at the time.

HOW:

The marble fragment was uncovered during excavations of the shipwreck site.

After the Mentor sank, Elgin had sponge divers salvage many of the sculptures from the wreck.

(UPDATED March 19, 2026 19:24 UTC)

Archaeologists have made a significant discovery off the coast of Kythira, Greece, unearthing a marble fragment among the remains of the Mentor, a brig owned by Lord Elgin that sank in September 1802. The fragment, measuring approximately 3.6 inches by 1.85 inches, features a sculptural detail resembling a water droplet and adds to the collection of artifacts already raised from the shipwreck, which include fragments of utensils and a clay slab. This ongoing excavation, which began in 2009, is part of Greece's efforts to recover the "Elgin Marbles," as the country asserts that Elgin did not have permission to remove these sculptures from the Acropolis during the early 1800s.