Mycenaean tombs were found near Olympia

Source: IOL

Athens - Greek archaeologists have uncovered four intact tombs about 30 centuries old and Roman baths from a later period in the south-west of the country, the local media reported on Monday.

The four tombs date from the Mycenaean period (1450 BC to 1050 BC) and are reported to contain many objects such as toys, ceramics and figurines.

The find was made near Olympia in the Peloponnese region in an area which had been excavated in the 1960s and the end of the 1990s.

One of the tombs found by a team headed by archaeologist Olympia Bikatou was apparently that of a child and held toys, images of protecting deities and an effigy of the mother, a woman clasping a child.

One of the objects was a flask showing Cypriot influence
Bikatou told a seminar at Olympia that her team had found ceramics in the form of boxes, alabaster pots and amphoras, some of which had four handles, "which give a complete picture of a Mycenaean ceramics workshop".

One piece of an amphora has a design showing a body displayed on a stretcher carried by four men which, according to Bikatou, "is the only scene of this type in Mycenaean iconography".

The tombs also held intaglio work in the form of engraved stones and seals in steatite and jewelry such as necklaces and pearls.

Giorgia Hatzi, head of the regional archaeological department, said Roman baths covering an area of 1 000 square metres had been found in the region.

They operated from the first to the fourth century AD and consisted of 16 rooms around a central marble-clad colonnade. The cloisters were covered with mosaics.