Almost 6,000 years ago, the man was placed behind the woman with his arms around her body, and their legs were intertwined. They were buried.
Why they were interred in this manner is not yet determined, but the international team that discovered them in Greece is still searching for answers, according to team member Michael Galaty, a Mississippi State University archaeologist.
“There’ve only been a couple of prehistoric examples of this behavior around the world, but even when couples are buried together, they’re beside each other and not typically touching,” he said. “This couple was actually spooning. We assume they were partners of some kind, and because of DNA analysis, we do know they are male and female.”
Not only does Galaty head MSU’s anthropology and Middle Eastern cultures department, but he also serves as interim director of the university’s Cobb Institute of Archeology.
Another question for the researchers to examine is how the couple died, which happened around 3800 B.C., Galaty said. While archaeologists are unsure whether the man or woman died first, they are sure the couple’s times of death are close together.
“This is unique in Greece, and we’re analyzing the skeletons and bones to find out more about what was going on, how they died and why they may have been placed there,” he said.
The largest archaeological find of its kind in Greece has set off speculation and thrilled Greeks, reminding them they are rich in history.
Early last month, on a hill outside a tiny, windy village of almond and tobacco farmers in northeastern Greece, veteran archaeologist Katerina Peristeri announced that she and her team had discovered what is believed to be the biggest tomb in Greece.
The “massive, magnificent tomb,” Peristeri told reporters, is likely connected to the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia, which, in the fourth century B.C. produced Alexander the Great.
Shortly after Peristeri’s announcement, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras held his own press conference at the site — known as Amphipolis — declaring it an “exceptionally important discovery” from the “earth of our Macedonia.”
And since then there have been daily reports in the Greek media, even though Peristeri and her team have refused interviews. They release each tidbit of news — each discovery of a caryatid, sphinx and other impressive artifacts — in press releases through the Greek Ministry of Culture.
Two caryatids (sculpted female figures) of exceptional artistic value were unearthed on Saturday during excavations by archaeologists in Ancient Amphipolis.
The 1,61 m.-wide, 0, 77 m.-high and 3 up to 9 cm.- thick sarcophagus, which was found almost intact, does not consist of different kinds of timber, as usual, but it is made of a single tree-trunk wich still keeps all its characteristics, including its skin and growth rings. It dates to the Archaic Period (610-490/480 π.Χ.), on the basis of the area it was located, the level of the deposit, as well as an Archaic osrtacon found next to the head of the young male deceased. Although research has not taken place yet, there is a preliminary idea suggesting that the wood’s use as a sarcophagus was secondary, having previously been used as a boat!
The Greeks and Romans have left many legacies–democracy, philosophy, mathematics… But they have also left a plethora of sexually explicit imagery–statues with erect penises, bestiality as garden sculpture, and drinking vessels showing scenes of rape and sexual intercourse.
Researchers working at an ongoing dig site in northern Greece recently announced that the final results of residue analysis from ancient ceramics showed evidence of wine dating back to 4200 B.C., according to the Greek Reporter. The excavation, located at a prehistoric settlement known as Dikili Tash, is situated 1.2 miles from the ancient city of Philippi and has been inhabited since 6500 B.C., according to the researchers’ website.
The analysis was not conducted on liquid wine, though. The passing millennia have erased nearly all tangible evidence of the drink, Dimitra Malamidou, a co-director of the most recent excavation, told The Huffington Post in an email.
“All [that] is left from the liquid part is the residue in the surface of the ceramic vases,” she said. “Recent residue analysis on ceramics attested [to] the presence of tartaric acid, indicating fermentation.”
Scientists from Greece and the US believe they are close to tracing the wood from which ancient triremes were made. The scientists, as GreekReporter website informs, are searching in Pieria (in the Region of Central Macedonia) for the Macedonian fir and the pine tree of Olympus and Pieria, locally known as “liacha.” According to Aristotle’s successor Theophrastus, this tree was used for the laborious process of constructing paddles and ships. Prints on the earth of this particular kind of wood, which has no knots but great resistance to salt water, were discovered during the archaeological excavations that started in 2003 in Methoni of Pieria. This fact, after the announcement of the results of the findings at a scientific conference that took place in Thessaloniki in 2011, mobilized scientists from different sectors in Greece, Los Angeles in the USA, Britain and Ireland, who have ever since been working together to discover pure pieces of wood from the 8th century at the excavation site in Methoni that will continue its work in 2014.
Have you voted yet in the Archaeological Institute of America’s photo contest?
Photo of Amphora and Eel, Pseira, Crete, Greece. Vote for it under Archaeological Landscapes.
The Bronze Age: The Minoans and the Mycenaeans
January 6-26, 2014
Together with the Sunoikisis consortium, the Center for Hellenic Studies will offer a travel study program in Greece in January. This travel-study program, led by professors Gregory Nagy, (Harvard University) and Kenny Morrell (Rhodes College), will explore the Bronze Age Minoan and Mycenean societies that occupied Crete, the Peloponnese, and the mainland. Points of interest include visits to Heraklion, Knossos, Mycenae, Nafplion, Sparta, and Athens.
Through readings, research projects, and interactions with scholars and curators, participants will develop a thorough familiarity with the Bronze Age in Greece. The excursion will combine visits to archaeological sites and museums with readings from primary and secondary sources about the societies and their influence on subsequent cultures.