Post by UKarchaeology on Nov 11, 2015 20:23:23 GMT
A gold wreath in the shape of an ivy plant discovered at a 2,400-year-old tomb complex in Cyprus.
Credit: Kadir Kaba
A 2,400-year-old underground tomb complex, containing what appears to be an aristocratic family, has been discovered near the ancient city of Soloi in northern Cyprus.
The complex contains three burial chambers, two of which were intact while the third had been looted. In the unlooted chambers archaeologists found human remains as well as jewelry, figurines, weapons and a collection of 16 vessels used to serve people attending a "symposium," an event in the ancient world where men drank, talked and enjoyed entertainment.
One of the chambers held an intricate gold wreath in the shape of an ivy plant. The wreath's gold berries and thin gold leaves survived the passage of more than two millennia of time.
The artifacts found in the tomb complex reveal trade between the ancient people of Soloi and Athens said archaeologist Hazar Kaba, who studied the tomb complex as part of his doctoral dissertation at Ankara University in Turkey.
Full story: www.livescience.com/52452-ancient-cyprus-tomb-discovered.html