Olbia : Ukraine : Wiki Commons
Archaeologists have unearthed graves dating to the 4th century BC in Mukolaiv. The discovery was made during reconstruction and renovation work of the local history museum in central Mukolaiv.
The discovery initially made headlines by announcing an ancient necropolis, dating to the 4th Century BC and of the Myloaiv-6 settlement.
Within the necropolis, 25 graves have now been exhumed of Hellenistic burials, following traditional Greek burial methods of grave orientation and funeral rites. Archaeologist and deputy director of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Archaeology’s Bay of the Sea research center Oleksandr Smyrnov stated :
“All the graves contain items of burial inventory, that is, the items that accompanied the deceased to another world, into the realm of Hades, according to the religious beliefs of the ancient Greeks.
These include, first of all, Athenian ceramic pots from Attica, antique black-figure pottery, wine kylixes of peculiar form, salt shakers covered with graffiti, and imported Heraclean amphorae with stamps of the 6th century BC.”
Most of the male burials contained weapons, indicative of the fighting skills the Olbian choria that belonged to the republic of Olbia. The Olbian settlement within the region controlled the ford across the River Inhul.
Within the female burials, archaeologists have found bronze wrist bracelets, necklaces and even the remains of a beaded woman’s dress. One of the necklaces, was made using kauri shells, a marine molluck commonly found within the Indian ocean, an indicative sign of the vast trade relations the ancient Greeks had that spanned far beyond the Mediterranean.
Smyrnov said “We may confidently say that the ancient inhabitants of Mykolaiv area traded with Heraclea Pontica and Athens.”
The study found that, unlike other Olbian chora necropolises of Mykolaiv, this one was never robbed in the 18th to 19th centuries.
All the artefacts from the excavation are now being displayed at the Sukhomlynsky National University’s Institute of History and Law in Ukraine. The total value has been estimated at close to 50, 000 US dollars.
Contributing Source : Digest | Wiki Commons
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