Sunken Hellenistic bronze statue of an athlete (c. 1st - 3rd century BCE)
Found by an amateur diver off the Island of Vele Orjule, Croatia, the statue of a young athlete was lying in the sandy seabed, far from any shipwreck.
This type of statue is called ‘Apoxyomenos’ (the “Scraper”) and represents a conventional subject of ancient Greek votive sculpture: an athlete, scraping sweat from his body.
It was possible to date the piece due to the remains of the nest of a little rodent found inside the statue. This statue is unique because most statues of this type are made of marble.