Andritsa Cave's Chamber Of Secrets

Athens News ^ | 10-9-2005 | Christy Papadopoulou

[blam]

Andritsa Cave's chamber of secrets

Late 6th-century finds retrieved from the Argolid cave and exhibited at theByzantine and Christian Museum begin to unfold the story of a group of peoplewho sought refuge there and slowly starved to death

CHRISTY PAPADOPOULOU

A large number of transporting and storage vessels from clay were found in the cave (above). Bronze processional cross with the Sunday prayer engraved on both its sides

A NATURAL shelter in case of inclement weather and dangerous situations, and occasionally the place to practise cult rituals, caves often keep their secrets hermetically sealed. The Andritsa Cave in the Municipality of Lerna in southwestern Argolid, a beautiful location with a rock decoration of stalactites and stalagmites, has its own story to tell: a violent, tragic incident from the so-called dark ages of Byzantium. It's just beginning to yield its secrets.

A preliminary investigation in the end of January 2004 brought to light a sealed archaeological assemblage with no signs of later human intervention dating from the last quarter of the 6th century. The work was done by the Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology and Speleology of Southern Greece and the Greek Speleological Exploration Society, whose head, Konstantinos Zoupis, carried out the initial mapping of the cave. A large number of clay vessels (amphoras, pithamphoras, jugs and oinochoai) and lamps and many metal artefacts and coins lay scattered in the cave's large chamber measuring about 75x65m, among the remains of human skeletons. Representative finds retrieved from the cave are currently displayed in large clusters - as they were found - on the ground floor (Villa Ilissia) of the Byzantine and Christian Museum, modelled to resemble the interior of a cave for the purposes of the temporary exhibition Andritsa Cave - Fateful Refuge running till November 15.

"This is the first exhibition of purely speleological finds from a scientific investigation of our ephorate," Dr Stavroula Samartzidou-Orkopoulou, director of the Ephorate of Palaeoantropology and Speleology of Southern Greece told the press. "Usually, our finds from excavations conducted in caves remain in the storerooms or, in the best of cases, go on display within the framework of permanent shows in museums around Greece." Referring to the finds, Demetrios Konstantios, director of the Byzantine and Christian Museum, said: "This is the dream of every archaeologist: to find a previously untouched archaeological assemblage."

Like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle finally falling into place, the finds suggest that a group of at least 33 people, Christian inhabitants of a nearby village, took refuge in the cave to escape some unknown danger. An iron spearhead, one of the first exhibits, hints at a violent event, possibly an enemy attack, that forced the group to seek voluntary confinement. Skeletal remains indicate that the refugees were of young age and mostly female. A bronze hair pin, a ring and a bracelet are among the exhibits.

Anthropological tests showed no pathological degeneration or evidence of an epidemic. "It is not clear why they descended into the cave," said Konstantios, adding: "Scientists in charge estimate that the causes of their organised concealment were not natural but, rather, manmade."

The people occupied the most spacious areas of the cave, probably grouped in families. They had brought with them all they needed to survive until the danger passed: clay lamps - of North African type with traces of burning - to light up the cave's gloomy interior; 113 transportation and storage vessels used mainly for liquids, as this was intended to be a temporary settlement; coins principally dating from the times of Justin II (565-578), some of which were located around an oinochoe-shaped treasure box (thesaurarion). No cooking vessels were found, with the exception of the shreds of a cooking pot, proof that dry food was consumed.

As the supplies were running out, some of the last survivors withdrew to the cave's most inaccessible depths to seek a quiet death. It is from there that some of the show's highlights were recovered: three bronze oinochoai and a bronze processional cross with the Sunday prayer engraved on both its sides in capital letters and a representation of Christ. The coins, which had not been removed from the bodies (skeletons are highlighted in white colour), and the finds' location on ground level point to the acceptance of a predictable, inescapable end as oil lamps went out and darkness and death prevailed in the cave.

The circular movement from light to darkness has been reproduced for the lighting of the show's three main rooms. Exhibits are displayed on earth, on ground level, against panoramic photos of the Andritsa Cave in an attempt to capture the feeling of the discovery. General information about the cave, the archaeological find and the preliminary results of the investigation take up the entrance while the passage to the cave and the exhibition displays a series of digital images of the cave.

But questions remain: Who were these people? And what were they hiding from? "The investigation and the studies are still at their outset," points out Samartzidou-Orkopoulou. "Only their continuation will render more evidence regarding the group's identity, possibly revealing the reasons that urged them to seek refuge in the cave".

"* 'Andritsa Cave - Fateful Refuge' is on at the Byzantine and Christian Museum (22 Vas Sofias St, tel 210-721-1027) till November 15. Open: Tuesday-Sunday 8.30am-7.30pm. Monday closed"

[FormerLib]

A Greek ping.

[blam]

Maybe they were hiding from things falling from the sky?

The Dark Ages: Were They Darker Than We Imagined?

"Let's first look at the onset of "the" Dark Ages in the sixth century AD. The Roman Empire was finished, nothing was happening in the sciences, and worse was happening in nature. The Italian historian Flavius Cassiodorus wrote about conditions that he experienced during the year AD 536 :"

"The Sun...seems to have lost its wonted light, and appears of a bluish colour. We marvel to see no shadows of our bodies at noon, to feel the mighty vigour of the Sun's heat wasted into feebleness, and the phenomena which accompany an eclipse prolonged through almost a whole year. We have had a summer without heat. The crops have been chilled by north winds, [and] the rain is denied." Other writers of the time described similar conditions : Procopius : "...during this year a most dread portent took place. For the Sun gave forth its light without brightness...and it seemed exceedingly like the Sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not clear." Lydus : "The Sun became dim...for nearly the whole year...so that the fruits were killed at an unseasonable time.""

[blam]

We can't post articles from The Independent so, I'll link it here:

Meet Helen Of Troy: Bald Headed, Bare Breasted And Bloodthirsty

[Liberal Bob]

Saved by global warming.

[blam]

We can't post articles from The Independent so, I'll link it here:

Meet Helen Of Troy: Bald Headed, Bare Breasted And Bloodthirsty

[Kolokotronis]

Thanks for the ping, FL. Eleni, this isn't far from the ancestral villages!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Blam. I'd have been the first under cover. :')

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

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[SunkenCiv]

Bettany Hughes also did this a few years back.

---

The Spartans with Bettany Hughes

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[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Hummm...Sounds like the author of the Helen book spent more time researching on some on line XXX site.

[Dustbunny]

Sounds like a work of Fiction.

[Bernard Marx]

Sounds like a work of Fiction.

Or deliberate Feminist revisionism. They can't allow another generation of girls to think of Helen as a mere pretty playtoy for dead white male patriarchs.

[SunkenCiv]

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