Dig This!
By Anna Catherine Sansalone
In July, 2018, archaeologists discovered a clay tablet with 13 verses of
the Odyssey inscribed on it. It was found near a temple of Zeus in
Ancient Olympia, the original site of the Olympic Games, in the
Peloponnese region of Greece. It is a momentous find; it is believed to
be the oldest written record of the odyssey, the epic tale
of Odysseus’ journey home after the Trojan War. Researchers
believe the tablet dates back to the 3rd century A.D. On
May 28, 2015, a team of archaeologists from the
University of Cincinnati unearthed the 3,500-year-old
tomb of a Greek Warrior. The tomb was found on a
Roman Coins Found hilltop near the ancient palace of Nestor, just
In
By Matthew Warden
outside Pilos, Greece. The discovery yielded
early
a treasure trove of artifacts, bronze
September
basins, weapons and armor, gold and
of this year,
silver cups, hundreds of beads, 50
there was a great
stone seals and four gold rings.
discovery related to
This gravesite has become
the culture of the Ancient
one of the most amazing
Romans. In Como, Italy (in
archaeological
northern Italy near its border
with Switzerland), archaeologists
discoveries in
were digging in the basement of an
Greece in the
old theater that had been closed since
last half
1997,the Cressoni Theater. During excavation
century.
for restructuring of the theater, the archeologists
found something very special. There was a jar with
hundreds of ancient gold coins that date back to the
Roman Empire. The archeologists believed the coins are
from the 4th or 5th century A.D. The large number of gold
coins were found in a two-handled soapstone jar, called an
amphora. This jar protected the coins very well and they are in
very good condition for their great age. The elaborate images depicted
on all of these gold coins are being studied at a restoration lab in Milan,
Italy now. Inside of the jar, the coins were arranged in rolls, similar to how
coins are stacked today, which lead the archaeologists to believe that this
theater stands over were an ancient bank once stood. Adding to this
hypothesis, they also found a gold bar in a similar jar in the same place.
Archaeologists believe that there is more ancient Roman treasure hidden in
the basement of this theater so they will continue to excavate the area to
hopefully make more discoveries about the life and culture of the Ancient
Romans.