Greek archaeologists have discovered a rare 2,700-year-old piece of fabric, discovered inside a copper urn from a burial during an excavation in the southern town of Argos.
Modern Argos in the northern Peloponnese is built on top of one of the most famous cities of ancient Greece.
It was yellow-brittle cylindrical urn that contained dried pomegranates along with ashes and charred human bones from an early 7th century B.C. cremation. It is said that the material was preserved nearly 3,000 years by the corroding copper urn. The cremation in Argos was very unusual which makes it a special find.
Alkistis Papadimitriou, who headed the dig said:
In my opinion, an affluent citizen may have wanted to imitate a funerary custom described by Homer to stand out among his peers buried nearby, who were not cremated.
The urn will be saved and afterwards will undergo laboratory tests. Conservation experts from Athens will work on the fragile find to know about the precise fabric and weaving techniques.
Source: KTVB
