alichay:

helenmilesmosaics:

These ancient mosaic fragments,  slightly submerged in the sea, can be found on a deserted stretch of minor road on the East coast of the Greek mainland, untended, unsignposted, unnoticed. 

archaeology is an inherently destructive act and in all honesty unless there’s something in imminent danger of being lost forever or there’s something of specific immediate academic interest it’s better to leave things where they are. underwater archaeology is especially difficult, because very often the delicate balance that’s kept something preserved for 2,000 years requires it to be continued t be kept that way, and the act of attempting to remove objects from the water could do huge amounts of damage in destabilising the material. it’s very likely that the local authority is aware of the site and its significance, but doesn’t have the money to excavate it properly or store the materials once they’re taken out of the ground. and it might seem counterintuitive not to have signage up pointing out heritage like this, but that’s exactly how you get looting – by unprofessionals – and lose either the pieces or their contextual information altogether.

basically: don’t worry, the local authority will know about the site and have documented it extensively. the pieces themselves aren’t in any danger of disappearing. but i get it can be weird to see stuff like this and think “why is nobody looking after that???”

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