May 10, 2007
Ancient fabric found in Greece
Archaeologists in Greece have discovered a rare 2,700-year-old piece of fabric inside a copper urn from a burial they speculated imitated the elaborate cremation of soldiers described in Homer's "Iliad."From Discovery News.The yellowed, brittle material was found in the urn during excavation in the southern town of Argos, a Culture Ministry announcement said Wednesday. . .
The burial was the only cremation among a half-dozen closely grouped graves found on the plot, which was scheduled for development.
Posted by David on May 10, 2007 1:21 PM
"Bronze Age"? In the Argolid, the Bronze Age ended with LH IIIC material culture and the Sea Peoples, 1150 BC give or take. The article is talking about 700 BC, dozens of Olympiads after the Archaic Age was supposed to have begun.
Also the Bronze Age Argives interred their noble dead in (quite famous) tombs, the "Tholoi". c.f. Mycenae.
Which is possibly why the article says, 'imitated the elaborate cremation of soldiers described in Homer's "Iliad."', rather than that this was ancestral Bronze or even Dark Age practice...
Posted by: David Ross on May 12, 2007 8:20 PM
Whoops -- thanks for the correction. I've excised the "Bronze Age" from the post title.
Posted by: David on May 15, 2007 9:06 PM
cronaca.com