Brève n° 25
Mycenaean tombs found
Information du 12 juin 2007 sur le site d’IOL (Independent
Online).
Athens - Greek archaeologists have uncovered
four intact tombs about 30 centuries old and Roman baths from a later period in
the south-west of the country, the local media reported on Monday.
The four tombs date from the Mycenaean period
(1450 BC to 1050 BC) and are reported to contain many objects such as toys,
ceramics and figurines.
The find was made near Olympia in the Peloponnese
region in an area which had been excavated in the 1960s and the end of the
1990s.
One of the tombs found by a team headed by
archaeologist Olympia Bikatou was apparently that of a child and held toys,
images of protecting deities and an effigy of the mother, a woman clasping a
child.
One of the objects was a flask showing
Cypriot influence
Bikatou told a seminar at Olympia that her
team had found ceramics in the form of boxes, alabaster pots and amphoras, some
of which had four handles, "which give a complete picture of a Mycenaean
ceramics workshop".
One of the objects was a flask showing Cypriot
influence, suggesting there were links with the island.One piece of an amphora
has a design showing a body displayed on a stretcher carried by four men which,
according to Bikatou, "is the only scene of this type in Mycenaean
iconography".
The tombs also held intaglio work in the form
of engraved stones and seals in steatite and jewelry such as necklaces and
pearls.Giorgia Hatzi, head of the regional archaeological department, said Roman
baths covering an area of 1000 square metres had been found in the region.
They operated from the first to the fourth
century AD and consisted of 16 rooms around a central marble-clad colonnade.
The cloisters were covered with mosaics.
DATE DE PUBLICATION EN LIGNE : 4 NOVEMBRE 2007