The initial story out of Crete had all the “trappings” of “clickbait” and “viral content” combined: spearfisherman locates an Alexanderesque bust – sans the rest of the statue – at a depth of only 3.8 meters and just 70 meters from a popular Hersonissos beach, situated in plain sight between seaweed and rocks.
In a first statement carried by a local radio station, the amateur fisherman said he was surprised and astonished to see the bust resting on the shallow seafloor. Interest soon mushroomed with the first, albeit local press reports, as the incident wasn’t the first of its kinds in the area.
In fact, the head of the culture ministry-affiliated underwater antiquities eforate (department) for Crete, Theotokis Theodoulou, was notified of the “discovery”.
Only then did the veteran archaeologist solve the “mystery”: the statue head and similar other recent finds off the specific region of Crete aren’t ancient or even old, but merely concrete replicas deliberately placed on the sea bottom by diving centers.
The goal, according to Theodoulou, is to make dives more interesting and educational for the divers, as well as to provide a “Grecian ambience” – Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life” comes to mind, or even the 1981 Bond flick “For Your Eyes Only” for older audiences.
He said similar objects have been located in the past, including the statue of a lion.
