Special Opportunity!

A talk on: The waning of Lord Elgin’s fortune  the wreck of the Mentor and the Parthenon Marbles.

Excavating a wreck that sank off Kythera in September 1802, carrying Parthenon Sculptures on behalf of Lord Elgin.

A report on the July 2011 excavation, with a Queensland twist.

An Australian first, don’t miss out!

The project's been all over the news in Greece.

Here's a link to view 10 minutes of footage on the ERT, NET TV program: http://tinyurl.com/3daj3yc

It will probably be the only presentation in Brisbane this year regarding the Mentor maritime excavation.

This public presentation as part of the Australasian Institute For Maritime Archaeology’s 2011 National Conference by Kytherian-Australians; John Fardoulis and Cosmos Coroneos who have recently returned from the excavation in Kythera.

Background
In 1802 the small brig Mentor was wrecked on the island of Kythera, Greece.

Its stated cargo consisted of 17 crates of the Parthenon Marbles enroute from Piraeus to England via Malta.

Over the next two years Lord Elgin spent a small fortune recovering the Marbles using Greek sponge divers. It was long suspected however that there other
undocumented antiquities aboard the vessel which were not recovered.

Previous archaeological investigations had been inconclusive.

In July an excavation led by Dr. Kourkoumelis of the Ephorate of Marine Antiquities, Ministry of Culture & Tourism, Greece with three Australian volunteers recovered a number of ancient coins as well as personal items belonging to the crew.

The similarities of the Mentor wrecksite with the Queensland wrecks  the HMS Pandora (1792) and Foam (1893)  contributed to the decision to finally excavate in the area most likely to contain the long anticipated antiquities.

When: Saturday September 3rd, 12.20pm - 1.20pm
Where: Queensland Museum, Southbank
Cost: FREE

For more information on the conference see: http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/maritimearchaeologyconference2011

For more information on the Mentor project see: www.krg.org.au/mentor