In an ancient Greek cemetery, archaeologists have made a chilling discovery of a mass grave containing eighty skeletons bound together by iron chains. The discovery is quite eerie…
Details of the Find at the Faliron Delta Necropolis
Archaeologists have uncovered mysterious remains at the Faliron Delta necropolis in Athens. At least eighty skeletons were found buried in a mass grave in an ancient Greek cemetery, with their wrists clamped by iron shackles. Experts believe they were victims of a mass execution, but the identities of these individuals, how they ended up there, and why they were buried with a measure of respect, remain a mystery.
Construction and Discovery
During the construction of a national opera house and library between downtown Athens and the port of Piraeus, a worker discovered shackled skeletal remains at the ancient Faliron Delta cemetery. These remains were found earlier this year in a part of the cemetery that has been dubbed the Faliron Delta necropolis. Despite restrictions on entrance, archaeologists carefully led a tour of the site to Reuters. The tour showcased the skeletons, some arranged in a neat row in the sandy ground, while others were piled on top of each other with their arms and legs twisted and jaws hanging open.
Expert Analysis
According to Dr. Stella Chryssoulaki, the head of excavations, the executed individuals were buried with respect despite all being killed in the same manner. It appears that most of them were young and in good health before their execution, with their hands tied together by handcuffs. The cause of death is still unknown, but experts plan to conduct DNA tests and research by anthropologists to uncover the truth. The violent nature of the event is apparent from the fact that most of the individuals had their arms bound above their heads with their wrists tied together.
Speculations and Theories
The orderly way they have been buried suggests these were more than just slaves or common criminals. The cemetery dates from between the 8th and 5th century BC.
“It is a period of great unrest for Athenian society, a period where aristocrats, nobles, are battling with each other for power,” said Chryssoulaki. The remains belonged to men who had been brutally executed.
One of the strongest theories is that they were supporters of Cylon, an Athenian noble and Olympic champion who staged an attempted coup in Athens in 632 BC with the help of his father-in-law, the tyrant of Megara. The coup failed and Cylon hid in a temple of the Acropolis. He managed to escape, but the people who backed him were killed.
“Perhaps with the DNA tests that we will do on these skeletons we may confirm or not this hypothesis that these deceased, these young people could be part of a coup … an attempt by a noble to take power by force,” said Chryssoulaki.
Broader Context and Future Plans
More than 1,500 bodies lie in the whole cemetery, some infants laid to rest in ceramic pots, other adults burned on funeral pyres or buried in stone coffins. One casket is made from a wooden boat. The skull of a child is seen inside a clay jar, a common practice for the burial of babies and children in ancient Greece.
Unlike Athens’ renowned ancient Kerameikos cemetery, the last resting place of many prominent ancient Greeks, these appear to be the inhabitants of regular neighborhoods.
The dig is within a 170,000 sq m landscaped park, shadowed by the vast new modern library and opera house buildings being built by the Stavros Niarchos philanthropic foundation.
High-rise apartments dot the skyline to the north while a noisy motorway snakes by the site’s east side. Chryssoulaki wants to see a museum built on the spot, as a monument to the daily lives of Athenians from another era.
“A cemetery is a first and last photograph in antiquity of those people that pass from life to death,” she said.
