Rhodes, Greece - Three shepherds have found fragments of eight marble statues, probably from the ancient Greek period, under a chapel in Kalymnos, eastern Greece, archaeologists in Rhodes said on Monday.
The three men, who had been hired to restore the chapel, went to the authorities after stumbling across the ancient statues as they were reinforcing the chapel's foundations.
They dug up 37 marble fragments, including some trunks in good condition, a woman's head, a man's head probably representing the Greek god of medicine, and two other heads thought to represent Zeus and Dionysos.
According to a first estimation, the statues are from the second century AD.
The fragments are being kept temporarily in the Kalymnos museum.
A team of archaeologists is expected later on Monday to examine the fragments and conduct further searches.
The chapel under restoration was built near the site of an ancient temple dedicated to Apollo. Several ancient fragments have already been found in the past. - Sapa-AFP