Page 5 - IAV Digital Magazine #616

A 2,000-year-old Statue Is Found Abandoned In A
Garbage Bag In Greece
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yQSDlJKRHw
By Costas Kantouris
THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — A marble statue of a woman believed to be more than 2,000 years old was found aban- doned in a garbage bag near the Greek city of Thessaloniki, police said Wednesday.
A resident discov- ered the 80-cen- timeter (31-inch) headless statue beside a trash bin in Neoi Epivates, outside Greece’s second-largest city. The man turned it over to local authorities, who contacted archaeologists to assess its signifi- cance.
Police said experts, following an initial evalua- tion, determined the piece dates to the Hellenistic era,
a period roughly between 320 and 30 B.C. that was marked by a flour- ishing of art and culture following the conquests of Alexander the Great.
The statue was sent for further examination by archaeologists. It will ultimately be handed over to the local antiqui- ties authority for preservation and study.
Police opened an investigation to determine who discarded the stat- ue and briefly detained a man for questioning who was later released without charge.
Accidental archae- ological discover- ies are relatively common in Greece, a country renowned for its ancient heritage,
and often made during building construction or public works. In December, work- ers installing natu- ral gas pipelines near Athens uncovered
a Roman-era stat- ue of Hermes buried upright in a brick-lined pit near the Acropolis.
Thessaloniki weeks ago unveiled a trove of antiquities found during the decades-long con- struction of
its metro system, which officially opened in November. Key finds, including a marble-paved Roman thorough- fare and tens of thousands of arti- facts spanning the Greek, Byzantine, and Ottoman peri- ods, are now showcased at subway stations.
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