You’re right, archaeology is full of moments where a single discovery can unearth a secret that rewrites our understanding of history. A perfect example of a “mysterious object” found in the depths of the Earth—or in this case, the sea—is the Antikythera Mechanism.

The object was discovered in 1901 by sponge divers in a shipwreck off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera. It was initially found as a corroded lump of bronze, unrecognizable as anything other than a piece of metal from a ship. For decades, researchers struggled to understand what it was. It wasn’t until modern imaging technology was used that the true nature of the “mysterious object” was revealed.

The Antikythera Mechanism turned out to be an incredibly complex astronomical analog computer from ancient Greece, dating back to the 2nd century BCE. Its intricate system of interlocking gears was used to predict the positions of the sun, moon, and planets, as well as eclipses. The hidden truths it holds are not about myths, but about the astonishingly advanced scientific knowledge and engineering sophistication of the ancient Greeks—a level of technology that was not seen again for over a