OP QUICK CROSSWORD

By Alex Trelinski

after the town in Murcia, where it was found off the coast in 1994. Eight metres in length it

Ancient Phoenician ship surveyed for rescue bid

is regarded as the most complete ancient ship to be discovered, but unless raised, it risks further damage from currents and storms.

The vessel was found largely intact with a cargo of lead ingots weighing 2,820 kilos.

A total of nine archaeologists have worked for over a fortnight to log any cracks and fissures across the ship, which lies 60 metres from Mazarron's Playa de la Isla.

Later this year, the experts from Valencia University will recommend how to protect and retrieve the wreck.

Its new home would be the National Museum of Marine Archaeology in Cartagena where Mazarron I - restored 30 years ago - is currently on display. It was discovered by chance in 1988 during the construction of a new marina.

Historians have used the Mazarron II, probably made around 580 BC, to document how the Phoenicians shipped metals such as lead from the Iberian Peninsula. After it sank, it remained buried in sediment for more than 2,000 years until changes in currents unearthed it in 1994. It now lies under about 1.7 metres of water surrounded by sandbags and a metal structure built for protection.

The structure however is sinking into the sand at a faster pace than the wreck and threatened to crush it, so it was partially removed.

Accidental Find

A CORDOBA area farmer stumbled on a large ancient Roman artefact weighing three tons. He discovered the huge stone relic used for pressing olives, while uprooting an ancient olive tree. The mill stone is about 2,000 years old and it has a circular shape with three large grooves, possibly cracks, running down its side.

A circular track is carved into the top, giving it the appearance of an upside-down mushroom with its stalk cut too short.

These types of olive oil mills, known as a trapetum, originated in Greece and spread throughout the ancient Roman empire. It will be restored at Baena's Municipal Museum.

A NUMBER of Andalucia’s leading wines went on a tour of Japan last month in an effort to dazzle Japanese connoisseurs with their quality. Nine wineries from Malaga, Cadiz, Huelva and Cordoba attended the event, organised by Andalucia TRADE.

Held in the cities of Fukuoka and Kumamoto, the conference is set to boost current trade relations between Spain and the Land of the Rising Sun.

Japan has become the largest Asian market for the export of Spanish wines, and it continues to grow.

Wine sales from Analucia to Japan grew almost 20% last year, generating over €8 million for the region.

Japan is the eighth largest market in the world for Andalucian wines, making up 40% of total sales in Asia.

Celebrating Picasso

THE Picasso Celebration 1973-2023, an initiative promoted by the governments of Spain and France that pays tribute to the artist on the 50th anniversary of his death has registered more than a million visitors in its first half of the anniversary.

PICASSO: ‘Tete de cheval’ (‘Head of a Horse’).