Archaeologists discover ancient Greek weapons and jewellery in warrior’s tomb

Reports are saying that the find – in Pylos, Greece and dating back to 1500 BC – could be a potential portal into the emergence of the Mycenaean civilization.

Near the head and chest was a bronze sword, its ivory hilt covered in gold.

The warrior’s remains were found with a yard-long bronze sword and a remarkable collection of gold rings, precious jewels and beautifully carved seals.

The Greek culture ministry announced that an global team of archaeologists led by the Department of Classics from the University of Cincinnati have uncovered a spectacular 3,500-year-old, treasure-filled grave of a warrior has been discovered near an ancient palace in southern Greece.

Gold cups rested on his chest and stomach, and near his neck was a perfectly preserved gold necklace with two pendants. Nearby were four gold rings, and silver cups as well as bronze bowls, cups, jugs and basins.

The tomb, which stands at 2.4 metres long and 1.5 metres wide, was unearthed during excavations begun in May near Pylos, on the site of the palace of Nestor.

The University of Cincinnati team has been working at a site called the Palace of Nestor, which the magazine states is associated with Homeric legend and is thought to have been destroyed in a fire around 1200 B.C. The ruins as a whole were rediscovered in Pylos in 1939.

The king who ruled at the Palace of Nestor controlled a vast territory that was divided into more than 20 districts with capital towns and numerous small settlements.

Nor is it the grave of his father, Neleus. Archaeological conservator Alexandros Zokos was essential partner in the removal, cleaning and preservation of the finds from the grave.

The researchers said that the discovery of so much jewelry with a male challenges the commonly held belief that such adornments accompanied only wealthy women to their graves.

The find promised to shed light on how the more developed civilization on Crete at the time – Europe’s first advanced civilization – would inform what would develop into the Mycenaean palace culture on the mainland.

The same would likely have been true of the warrior’s dwelling during this lifetime.