6th Century BC Aristocrat-Warrior Graves in Northern Greece

[Jovialis]

Archaeologists in northern Greece have explored more than 200 new graves in a vast ancient cemetery that was plundered in antiquity but still retained rich finds, including a gold mask and bronze helmets.


In a statement Friday, the Culture Ministry said the most impressive finds came from the graves of warriors who died in the 6th century B.C. and were members of a powerful military aristocracy.


Recovered artefacts included the valuable face mask, made specially for funerals, four bronze helmets, iron spearheads and fragmented iron swords, a large bronze urn with ornate handles, an iron model of a farm cart and bronze leg armor.


The cemetery at Ahlada, near the town of Florina, has so far yielded nearly 1,300 graves, including this year's discoveries, from various eras.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/244762/a...ked-by-robbers

[Angela]

This seems to be the golden funerary mask.

[bigsnake49]

There are so many potential archaeological sites in Greece that the ministry has to prioritize the digs. There's just only so much money to go around. Then after the dig they have to maintain and guard the site and provide guides. That's why lately they have accepted help from foreign universities, more specifically American universities. Graduate students are a cheap source of labor :). At last estimate there were about 300 sites to investigate in Western Thrace alone.

[bigsnake49]

I wonder if they will find some DNA in this dig. If there are 1300 graves in the area surely some of them contain bones and/or teeth they can extract DNA from.