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Gold earrings from 4th C BC tomb, photo: Greek Ministry of Culture
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Today the latest discoveries from the
necropolis of Aegae (Vergina) were announced by Imathia’s Head of Antiquities
Angeliki Kottaridi. And, as usual, they did not disappoint. The excavations
revealed a total of 21 graves, of which 6 had been looted. The most spectacular find came from a tomb
dating to the 4th C BC which contained the remains of a young girl.
The girl had been buried with gold ornaments including earrings, but also a
bronze mirror, the only one discovered so far in Aegae. The mirror features a relief of Eros flying
in to embrace the god Dionysus, who is seated on the skin of a panther laid
across some rocks.
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| Bronze mirror with Eros & Dionysus, photo: Greek Ministry of Culture |
One of the tombs contained the remains of a
funerary bed decorated with plaques made of terracotta, showing Athena watching
a battle of Greeks against barbarians in relief.
Perhaps the most intriguing find was a looted
cist tomb, dated to the time of Alexander the Great, that contained a vase used
as an urn. The urn was crowned with a bronze ivy wreath and contained the
remains of a man aged around 50 years of age. The tomb contained a narrow
wooden table upon which utensils of the type used in a symposium had been
placed.
Among the vessels was a bronze bowl used for mixing wine and water,
with very fine decoration that showed the high degree of skill of the
Macedonian craftsmen.
The bowl was found lying on the floor of
the tomb and surrounded by organic debris associated with the funerary couch.
The remains of fabric from the bed and the clothes of the dead were lying
amongst the debris of the wooden couch, and traces of purple could be seen
amongst the fabric. The gilt decoration from the front of the couch is
reminiscent of the gold and ivory beads discovered in the (so-called) tomb of
Philip II at Vergina. Speculation has arisen about the occupant
of the tomb. Mrs Kottardi noted that the occupant was an adult male so wealthy
that he could afford clothes dyed with purple, yet at the same time there were
no arms or armour within the tomb. The absence of arms, combined with the ivy wreath
around the urn, suggested to Kottardi that the man may have been a priest of
Dionysus, or an associated cult. Let’s hope that further investigations shed
more light on the occupants of the newly excavated tombs.
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| Lifting the slabs of a cist grave, photo: Greek Ministry of Culture |
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