2,800-Year-Old Zigzag Art Found in Greek Tomb

LiveScience ^ | Wednesday, August 20, 2014 | Owen Jarus

[SunkenCiv]

The tomb was built sometime between 800 B.C. and 760 B.C., a time when Corinth was emerging as a major power and Greeks were colonizing the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea.

The tomb itself consists of a shaft and burial pit, the pit having a limestone sarcophagus that is about 5.8 feet (1.76 meters) long, 2.8 feet (0.86 m) wide and 2.1 feet (0.63 m) high. When researchers opened the sarcophagus, they found a single individual had been buried inside, with only fragments of bones surviving.

The scientists found several pottery vessels beside the sarcophagus, and the tomb also contained a niche, sealed with a limestone slab, which held 13 mostly complete vessels.

"The wealth of the occupant here is indicated by the sarcophagus and the large number of vessels," writes a team of researchers in a recent issue of the journal Hesperia. Except for two vessels imported from Athens all the pottery was made in Corinth, the researchers noted.

The vessels were decorated with a variety of designs, including wavy, zigzagging lines and meandering patterns that look like a maze. This style of pottery was popular at the time, and archaeologists often refer to this as Greece's "Geometric" period.

Several centuries later, in Roman times, the tomb would almost be destroyed after a wall was built beside it. When archaeologists excavated that wall, they found a limestone column that may have originally served as a grave marker for the tomb.

Rise of a wealthy city

A group of rulers called the Bacchiadae came to power in Corinth in 747 B.C. (a few decades after the tomb was constructed), ancient records indicate. Those rulers built colonies in modern-day Sicily and Corfu, decisions that helped Corinth increase trade and grow wealthy.

[SunkenCiv]

A 2,800-year-old tomb with the remains of a possibly wealthy individual inside, has been discovered in the ancient city of Corinth in Greece. Credit: Photo courtesy American School of Classical Studies

[SunkenCiv]

[Vendome]

[Opinionated Blowhard]

Zigzag art? For some reason, a quote from Mel Brooks' History of the World comes to mind:

And here, in a cave about 2 million years ago, the first artist was born. And, of course, with the birth of the artist, came the inevitable after birth... The critic.

[colorado tanker]

Dang, and I thought I’d be the first to post that. :-))

[Steely Tom]

Nice of you to post it as a 1458x2175 pixel image.

[MagnoliaB]

I’m not sure I’m seeing the zig zag.

[MagnoliaB]

Oh, now I see it.

[yarddog]

There doesn’t seem to be much left to study. Several hundred years after the Trojan War and also a couple of hundred before the Golden Age.

Greeks seemed to pretty much have colonized most of the Mediterranean not including Egypt and areas colonized by Phoenicians.

[Vendome]

Dayuhm!!!!

Didn’t look that big on my phone.

I need to check the properties on pics before I post...

LOL

[RedMDer]

Less than $7.5k to go!!

[MagnoliaB]

I thought it was hilarious! Bam! Zig Zag!

[blueunicorn6]

When I die, I’ve told my wife to bury me in the woods. I told her to throw a slinky, a Pez dispenser and four oven mitts in with me. Let some future archeologist figure that out.

[wildbill]

Me too. I was gonna get up and do it, but took another toke instead.

[SunkenCiv]

Here's a reprise of a links list I posted in 2009:

• So Who Is Buried in Midas's Tomb?
• Recent Finds Prove That Homer's Stories Were More Than Myth
• Dig Unearths Mycenaean 'Homeric Capital'
• 'Cyclops' -- Like Remains Found On Crete
• Geologists investigate Trojan battlefield
• Scientists Say Warfare Began After People Formed Villages
• The Search For Atlantis 'Ends At Ayia Napa' (Cyprus)
• Debate Erupts Anew: Did Thera's Explosion Doom Minoan Crete?
• The Truth About An Epic Tale Of Love, War And Greed (Troy)
• Victor Davis Hanson: The Ancient Greeks -- Were they like us at all?
• Pitt Says Men May Start Wearing Skirts After 'Troy'
• Let's hope 'Troy' doesn't put men in skirts
• Director compares 'Troy' to Iraq war
• Boycott Brad Pitt In the movie "Troy"!
• Trojan Bore (REVIEW: Troy devoid of any notion of honor, destiny, gods, or reason to see it)
• Ties between Hollywood and Teachers? (Vanity)
• Troy the Movie
• 50 Ancient Tombs Uncovered (1400BC, Crete)
• Minoan ship to ply Greek seas for first time in 3,500 years
• New Ice-Core Evidence Challenges the 1620s age for the Santorini (Minoan) Eruption
• Was There a Trojan War?
• Ireland Is Lost Island of Atlantis, Says Scientist
• Laocoön and His Son
• The Linear B Tablets and Mycenaean Social, Political, and Economic Organization
• Arzawa
• Let's not read too much into the fate of 'Alexander'(Hilarious Movie Review!)
• NYT: Big Films, but a Year of Smaller Audiences
• In Search of the Real Troy
• Russian Culture Official Suggests Legendary Gold Collection From Troy Unlikely be Returned Germany
• Kernave: Lithuania's 'Troy' to celebrate UNESCO heritage site listing
• Mycenaean Port Of Athens Found
• Mycenaean Port of Athens Found?
• Unearthing the Treasures of the Mediterranean
• Protopalatial Sanctuary at Anemospilia (Archanes), More on the Peaceful Minoans
• Unlocking the Power of Myth
• Bulgarian Archaeologists Uncover Treasure Of Thousands Of Golden Ornaments
• Archeologists make historic discovery (Tomb of Odysseus)
• Roman Theatre Goddesses Unearthed In Crete (Athena & Hera)
• Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore
• Helen Of Troy Existed?
• Greek treasures unearthed (Minoans, Linear A, Linear B)
• Palace Of Homer's Hero Rises Out Of Myths
• Virgil's Demi-God City 'Found'
• Explorer Ballard heads exploration of undersea volcano
• Archaeologists Seek Hints On 4,000-Year-Old (Thracian) Civilization In Tekirda›
• Bulgaria Unearths Acropolis-Rivalling Ancient Sanctuary
• Crete: isle of the dead?
• Santorini Eruption Much larger Than Originally Believed
• Schliemann's search for the 'first city'
• Drill hole begins Homeric quest
• Unique Mycenaean suit of armor due for conservation
• Lessons Of 'The 300'
• Classical Treasures, Bathed in a New Light [ Met Museum, NYC, Roman and Greek classics ]
• Mycenaean and Hittite Diplomatic Correspondence: Fact and Fiction [ PDF file ]
• 2,700-Year-Old Fabric Found in Greece
• Troy Story [The Straight Dope]
• Prehistoric Greek Water Works Found [ Mycenaean citadel of Midea ]
• Sick Rams Used As Ancient Bioweapons
• Did a Tsunami Wipe Out a Cradle of Western Civilization?
• Tsunami that devastated the ancient world could return
• Phaistos Disc declared as fake by scholar
• Defences at Troy reveal larger town [ news finally reaches UK ]
• 'The Odyssey' and 'The Iliad' are giving up new secrets about the ancient world
• Mycenaean warrior used 'imported sword'
• Grog of the Greeks [ barley beer, honey mead, retsina wine ]
• Trojan arrows and unique seals from Perperikon stand out in archaeological summer '08
• Making merry at Knossos
• Decoding antiquity: Eight scripts that still can't be read
• Decipherments of the Phaistos Disk: NOT!
• Phaistos Disk: Greek or Luwian?
• Modernist minotaurs
• Powerful quake hits near Greek island
• Archaeology meets mythology in Mycenean Pylos (King Nestor)

[SunkenCiv]

Here's a reprise of a links list I posted in 2009, with the link errors removed:

• So Who Is Buried in Midas's Tomb?
• Recent Finds Prove That Homer's Stories Were More Than Myth
• Dig Unearths Mycenaean 'Homeric Capital'
• 'Cyclops' -- Like Remains Found On Crete
• Geologists investigate Trojan battlefield
• Scientists Say Warfare Began After People Formed Villages
• The Search For Atlantis 'Ends At Ayia Napa' (Cyprus)
• Debate Erupts Anew: Did Thera's Explosion Doom Minoan Crete?
• The Truth About An Epic Tale Of Love, War And Greed (Troy)
• Victor Davis Hanson: The Ancient Greeks -- Were they like us at all?
• Pitt Says Men May Start Wearing Skirts After 'Troy'
• Let's hope 'Troy' doesn't put men in skirts
• Director compares 'Troy' to Iraq war
• Boycott Brad Pitt In the movie "Troy"!
• Trojan Bore (REVIEW: Troy devoid of any notion of honor, destiny, gods, or reason to see it)
• Ties between Hollywood and Teachers? (Vanity)
• Troy the Movie
• 50 Ancient Tombs Uncovered (1400BC, Crete)
• Minoan ship to ply Greek seas for first time in 3,500 years
• New Ice-Core Evidence Challenges the 1620s age for the Santorini (Minoan) Eruption
• Was There a Trojan War?
• Ireland Is Lost Island of Atlantis, Says Scientist
• Laocoön and His Son
• The Linear B Tablets and Mycenaean Social, Political, and Economic Organization
• Arzawa
• Let's not read too much into the fate of 'Alexander'(Hilarious Movie Review!)
• NYT: Big Films, but a Year of Smaller Audiences
• In Search of the Real Troy
• Russian Culture Official Suggests Legendary Gold Collection From Troy Unlikely be Returned Germany
• Kernave: Lithuania's 'Troy' to celebrate UNESCO heritage site listing
• Mycenaean Port Of Athens Found
• Mycenaean Port of Athens Found?
• Unearthing the Treasures of the Mediterranean
• Protopalatial Sanctuary at Anemospilia (Archanes), More on the Peaceful Minoans
• Unlocking the Power of Myth
• Bulgarian Archaeologists Uncover Treasure Of Thousands Of Golden Ornaments
• Archeologists make historic discovery (Tomb of Odysseus)
• Roman Theatre Goddesses Unearthed In Crete (Athena & Hera)
• Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore
• Helen Of Troy Existed?
• Greek treasures unearthed (Minoans, Linear A, Linear B)
• Palace Of Homer's Hero Rises Out Of Myths
• Virgil's Demi-God City 'Found'
• Explorer Ballard heads exploration of undersea volcano
• Archaeologists Seek Hints On 4,000-Year-Old (Thracian) Civilization In Tekirda›
• Bulgaria Unearths Acropolis-Rivalling Ancient Sanctuary
• Crete: isle of the dead?
• Santorini Eruption Much larger Than Originally Believed
• Schliemann's search for the 'first city'
• Drill hole begins Homeric quest
• Unique Mycenaean suit of armor due for conservation
• Lessons Of 'The 300'
• Classical Treasures, Bathed in a New Light [ Met Museum, NYC, Roman and Greek classics ]
• Mycenaean and Hittite Diplomatic Correspondence: Fact and Fiction [ PDF file ]
• 2,700-Year-Old Fabric Found in Greece
• Troy Story [The Straight Dope]
• Prehistoric Greek Water Works Found [ Mycenaean citadel of Midea ]
• Sick Rams Used As Ancient Bioweapons
• Did a Tsunami Wipe Out a Cradle of Western Civilization?
• Tsunami that devastated the ancient world could return
• Phaistos Disc declared as fake by scholar
• Defences at Troy reveal larger town [ news finally reaches UK ]
• 'The Odyssey' and 'The Iliad' are giving up new secrets about the ancient world
• Mycenaean warrior used 'imported sword'
• Grog of the Greeks [ barley beer, honey mead, retsina wine ]
• Trojan arrows and unique seals from Perperikon stand out in archaeological summer '08
• Making merry at Knossos
• Decoding antiquity: Eight scripts that still can't be read
• Decipherments of the Phaistos Disk: NOT!
• Phaistos Disk: Greek or Luwian?
• Modernist minotaurs
• Powerful quake hits near Greek island
• Archaeology meets mythology in Mycenean Pylos (King Nestor)

[SunkenCiv]

CLearly they have ceremonial significance.

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from 08/28/2014. One of *those* topics.

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