Fishing, Anyone?

Photo: AP Photo/Greek Culture Ministry

I've had the (dis)pleasure of catching many things when I go fishing (other than fish, that is). Besides catching cold several times, I've caught storm debris, miscellaneous trash, and once I even caught a badly rusted eye hook. But I never caught anything like this. It is a 3-foot high statue of a horseback soldier, discovered by a Greek fisherman in the Aegean Sea. He turned it over to the Greek Culture Ministry.

(Yeah, it looks like a cruddy piece of encrusted bronze to me, too - but the AP swears that it is a horseman statue - and they couldn't be wrong, could they? Don't answer that.)

What was it doing in the sea? The Associated Press reports that it was part of the cargo of an ancient ship that sank in the area. This part of the sea is dotted with ancient shipwrecks.

WARNING: BAD PUN AHEAD
This kind of fishing can net big rewards. In 1995, another fisherman found a large statue that is now on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. He was paid a $558,000 reward.

Tags: archaeology