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Two of the few surviving life-sized Greek bronzes spent more than 2,000 years at sea.
How often do you get a chance to see two 2,500 year-old bronze warriors from classical Greece? These statues in Reggio di Calabria, spent more than 2,000 years submerged under the waves of the Ionian Sea. A diver discovered the pair in 1972 and within a week the bronzes were recovered by an elated Italian government. Stefano Mariottini chanced upon the bronzes while snorkeling off the coast of Riace. He noticed an arm emerging from the sand, which at first he feared was a dead body. But when Mariottini touched the arm, he realized it was made of metal. After he began to push the sand away, he noticed another statue nearby. Once Mariottini got out of the water, he called authorities to let them know what he had found. A little more than a week later, both statues had been pulled out of their watery resting place.
