Gold wreaths unearthed

[Angelo]

Gold wreaths unearthed by metro

Four gold wreaths decorated with olive leaves, gold earrings and other Hellenistic-era artifacts have been discovered in one of the 700 tombs of an ancient graveyard unearthed during construction work for the Thessaloniki metro in the Sintrivani district, archaeologists announced on Friday.

All four gold wreaths were in the same tomb, set at the head and feet of a dead female in an unusual manner.

Archaeologist said that the discoveries were all made in the past few days in what was originally considered the city's cemetery for the poor.

A culture ministry announcement said that a rectangular-shaped pit grave was discovered at the intersection of two rail lines in the Syntrivani station and its outer walls had been partly penetrated and destroyed by a sewage pipe leading to the central library building of Thessaloniki's Aristotelian University.

Within the grave was placed the body of a woman or girl about 1.12 metres in height, originally in a wooden coffin based on remains of wood found around it. Archaeologists said the skeletal remains were in a very poor condition but surrounded by the four gold wreaths, gold earrings in the form of a dog's head set with semi-precious stones, a copper coin, a gold coin, a copper mirror, two clay compasses, one copper and four pottery vessels.

All the artifacts are dated to the early Hellenistic period and were transferred to the warehouses of the 16th archaeological service in eastern Thessaloniki, where work on their cleaning and conservation will begin on Monday.



Gold wreaths unearthed by metro