Posted on 06/11/2018 12:57:11 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Sometimes the most extraordinary finds occur by sheer luck. At least that was the case of a fourth century B.C. chamber tomb that came to light five weeks ago during the construction of an aqueduct in a Rome suburb, when an earthmover accidentally opened a hole in the side of the chamber... The tomb contained the remains of four occupants -- three men and a woman -- and funerary wares. Archaeologists are calling it "the Tomb of the Athlete" because of the presence of two bronze strigils, the instrument used by ancient Greek and Roman athletes to scrape sweat from the skin after a workout. Actually, the male skeletons in the tomb belonged to older men (all three were over 35 -- very old in those days). "To say there was an athlete is a bit of stretch, but it works journalistically," joked Fabio Turchetta, the on-site archaeologist who followed the aqueduct works... The tomb was dated to between 335 and 312 B.C. on the basis of a coin found next to a skeleton. One side depicts the head of Minerva, the flip side a horse head with the lettering: "Romano." Excavated into a bank of porous tuff, the volcanic rock typical of the area, the family tomb was distinctive "because it remained intact, and was never violated," said the archaeologist Stefano Musco, scientific director of the dig. The quality of the black-glazed pottery found next to the skeletons -- a variety of bowls and plates, some bearing mini-skeletons of animals (two, a rabbit and a lamb or a goat, have been identified) -- suggested that the owners of the tomb came from a privileged social class, Mr. Musco said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
If anyone 2400 years from now thinks they can learn something when they accidentally rediscover the local cemetery and the grave with these remains in it, it won't bother me at all, I won't even be there.
That’s the one, couldnt’ remember.
Thanks all for the discussion of the 35 years detail. I was so happy about it that I searched the entire thread to get everyone who brought it up (and one who didn’t, *no* extra points or gift cards if you figure out who), and replied to #35 so this would all somehow have even more validity, coherence, and context. Or somethin’.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3662190/posts?page=33#33
The trick was to make it through birth, infancy and not fall to a childhood disease. And in ancient Rome your father decided not to kill you.
All of these would have lived longer if they had died of natural causes.
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