Ancient, Unlooted Tombs Unearthed in Greek Aidonia

Two intact chamber tombs dating from 1400 to 1200 B.C. have been unearthed in Aidonia burial site near the southern town of Nemea, Greece.

Ministry of Culture in Athens said that the location of the tombs is at a site already known for its cluster of tombs, most of which had been looted before their discovery.

It explained that the newly found tombs include two full burials and bones from 14 inpiduals whose remains had been transferred from other tombs.

Located next to Nemea's vineyards, Aidonia burial site was a key settlement of the The Mycenaean civilization, with its palatial states, urban organization, sophisticated art and writing system, flourished in Greece in the 17th-12th centuries BC.

The cemetery was extensively looted in the winter 1976-1977, just before archaeologists uncover a complex of 20 chamber tombs carved in the rock.

The finds in a pit inside one of these tombs helped experts link them to a set of jewelry that was about to be sold in an auction house in New York in 1993 and was eventually returned home.

Last October, an intact tomb from the early Mycenaean era (1650-1400 BC) was unearthed by archaeologists in the same location at Nemea.

[caption id="attachment_71583" align="aligncenter" width="382"] The unearthed tomb in Aidonia last October[/caption]

According to the Culture Ministry, the tomb was among the largest ever found in the region and is set apart by the short yet wide path leading to its entrance along with other features that place it in the early phase of the Mycenaean civilization.