Digging up Athens for the Olympics

This article paints a rather rosy picture of the rescue work necessitated by the extensive construction under way for the 2004 Olympic games. Reading between the lines, however, there is obviously much being wrested out of the ground without time for detailed study of context:

The 2004 Games have been a boon for archaeologists, bringing the biggest single antiquities treasure hunt in Athens and surrounding areas. Experts rushed in trying to beat the bulldozers at dozens of Olympic-related sites, from sports venues to highways.

The finds so far range from prehistoric settlements to 2,500-year-old cemeteries to ruins from the Roman period . . . "I don't believe there was ever such a large-scale archaeological excavation in Athens," said Dina Kaza, who heads the dig at the old seaside airport. . .

One excavation — at the site of a new streetcar line storage shed — found 150 graves as old as the seventh century B.C. Another archaeologist, Maria Platonos, uncovered a ceramic vessel depicting a victorious javelin thrower at a cemetery from the Classical period, 500-323 B.C., on a road to the Olympic Village north of central Athens. . .

At the Olympic Village, Miss Platonos' team discovered an extensive system of underground pipes put in during the Roman period to supply Athens with water from nearby Parnitha Mountain. The system was in use until the 19th century.

Posted by David on January 24, 2004 11:47 AM