421-429

Excavational research in the archaic cemetery of Abdera

• Σκαρλατίδου, Ευδοκία

After six excavational seasons an extended cemetery of the early Archaic period was discovered at Abdera containing 281 burials in an area of 857 sq. m. 87.64% of these are burials of infants and children. Ninety-seven burials were excavated in 1987, similar to those found before.Seventy-four burials were placed in pots (amphorae, small pithoi, jars), nine were cremations in situ, and finally fourteen pit-graves. The density of the burials, organized in two or three levels, is relatively high. Some of the burials were accompanied with grave-goods, namely vases such asaryballoi, alabastra, kylices, kyathoi, jugs, lekythoi and feeding-pots; Ionic kylicespredominate. Some of these vases were made in Corinthian workshops, while the majority came from Ionia. The finds, dated to the second half of the 7th century, the burial customs and the origin of the pottery imply that the cemetery was used by Greeks, probably the Klazomenians, the first Ionian inhabitants of Abdera. These data suggest that Herodotus was probably wrong writing that the Klazomenians were overthrown by the Thracians when they tried to colonize the area. Bad climatic conditions may had caused epidemic diseases affecting mainly children; the increased infant mortality was probably due to this event. Furthermore, these reasons may had forced the Klazomenians to leave the city. Abdera was refounded in the mid-6th century B.C. by colonists from Teos in Asia Minor.

• History and Archaeology

• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)

νεκροταφεία, αρχαϊκή εποχή, Ξάνθη, συνέδρια

Περιέχει σχέδια και εικόνες