アンティキティラ島の沈没船で人骨の発掘調査をする考古学者チーム。
この沈没船は、「世界最古のコンピューター」と呼ばれる「アンティキティラの機械」が発見されたことで知られる。歯車が連動する時計のような装置で、日食や月食、天体位置の予測のために使われたと考えられている。
ギリシャ共和国文化・スポーツ省とウッズホール海洋研究所（WHOI）の研究グループは8月にエーゲ海ギリシャ領のアンティキティラ島沖合の海底に沈んでいる沈没船を調査中、人骨を発見した。
「骨はあらゆる障害を乗り越え、2000年以上も海底に眠っていました。状態は良好です」と、デンマーク自然史博物館のDNA専門家ハンネス・シュレーダー博士はニュースリリースの中で述べた。
アンティキティラ島の沈没船発掘現場から発見された頭蓋骨。
科学誌「ネイチャー」によると、発見されたのは3本の歯がついた頭蓋骨の一部、腕と脚の骨、肋骨数個だという。これらはDNA配列の検査が可能になった現代になって、沈没船から発見された初めての骨だ。
シュレーダー博士はこの発見を「信じられない」と述べた。調査チームの一員で、ウッズホール海洋研究所のブレンダン・フォーリー博士も同様の見解だ。
「これは沈没船探査史上、最もエキサイティングな科学的発見です」と、フォーリー博士はガーディアン紙に語った。「船の乗客または乗員が沈没したときに閉じ込められたものと思われます。急速に沈没したはずです。そうでなければ、骨はなくなっていたでしょう」と付け加えている。
沈没船調査チームはほぼ完全な頭蓋骨を発見した。
海底に残っている骨もあるが、分析のため引き上げられたものもある。
ネイチャー誌によると、もし人骨からDNAを採取できれば、性別や髪・目の色が分かるかもしれないという。さらに、人種や出生地の特定も可能だ。
発掘された人骨を調査する「アンティキティラ・プロジェクト」のコーディネーター、セオトキス・セオドゥールー氏とブレンダン・フォーリー氏。頭蓋骨、歯のついた上あご、大腿骨2本、とう骨、尺骨、肋骨などがある
沈没船はギリシャの貿易船または貨物船と思われるが、これまでに発見された古代沈没船の中で最大だ。海綿採取のダイバーが1900年に発見して以来、数多くの貴重な遺品が見つかっている。その中にはガラス製品、金細工、大理石像、「ドルフィン」と呼ばれる古代武器、そして「アンティキティラ島の機械」（下）などがある。
この時計のような装置はアテネ国立考古学博物館の所蔵に所蔵されている。
アンティキティラ島の機械（紀元前205年）。アテネ国立考古学博物館所蔵。
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世界最古のコンピューター
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A fragment of the 2,100-year-old Antikythera Mechanism, believed to be the earliest surviving mechanical computing device, is seen at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2006. The bronze system of cogs and wheels was found in a Roman wreck off southern Greece in 1900. It is the focus of a two-day conference starting in Athens late Thursday, with the participation of scientists from Greece, Britain, the U.S. and other countries. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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A fragment of the 2,100-year-old Antikythera Mechanism, believed to be the earliest surviving mechanical computing device, is seen at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2006. The bronze system of cogs and wheels was found in a Roman wreck off southern Greece in 1900. It is the focus of a two-day conference starting in Athens late Thursday, with the participation of scientists from Greece, Britain, the U.S. and other countries. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Fragments of the 2,100-year-old Antikythera Mechanism, believed to be the earliest surviving mechanical computing device, is displayed at the National Archaeological Museum, in Athens, Thursday, June 9 , 2016. An international team of scientists says a decade\'s painstaking work on the corroded fragments found in an ancient Greek shipwreck has deciphered roughly 500 words of text that explained the workings of the complex machine, described as the world;s first mechanical computer. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Fragments of the 2,100-year-old Antikythera Mechanism, believed to be the earliest surviving mechanical computing device, are seen at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2006. The bronze system of cogs and wheels was found in a Roman wreck off southern Greece in 1900. It is the focus of a two-day conference starting in Athens Thursday, with the participation of scientists from Greece, Britain, the U.S. and other countries. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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A Fragment of the 2,100-year-old Antikythera Mechanism, believed to be the earliest surviving mechanical computing device, is displayed at the National Archaeological Museum, in Athens, Thursday, June 9 , 2016. An international team of scientists says a decade\'s painstaking work on the corroded fragments found in an ancient Greek shipwreck has deciphered roughly 500 words of text that explained the workings of the complex machine, described as the world;s first mechanical computer. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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A fragment of the 2,100-year-old Antikythera Mechanism, believed to be the earliest surviving mechanical computing device, is displayed at the National Archaeological Museum, in Athens, Thursday, June 9 , 2016. An international team of scientists says a decade\'s painstaking work on the corroded fragments found in an ancient Greek shipwreck has deciphered roughly 500 words of text that explained the workings of the complex machine, described as the world;s first mechanical computer. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Alexander Jones, center, Mike Edmunds, right, and Yanis Bitsakis sit behind a possible reconstruction of the more than 2,000-year-old Antikythera Mechanism during a press conference in Athens, Thursday, June 9 , 2016. An international team of scientists says a decade\'s painstaking work on the corroded fragments found in an ancient Greek shipwreck has deciphered roughly 500 words of text that explained the workings of the complex machine, described as the world;s first mechanical computer. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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