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Greek Hiker Finds 6,500-Year-Old Pendant
AP on Yahoo ^ | 2/16/06 | Costas Kantouris - ap

Posted on 02/16/2006 1:37:32 PM PST by NormsRevenge

THESSALONIKI, Greece - A Greek hiker found a 6,500-year-old gold pendant in a field and handed it over to authorities, an archaeologist said Thursday.

The flat, roughly ring-shaped prehistoric pendant probably had religious significance and would have been worn on a necklace by a prominent member of society.

Only three such gold artifacts have been discovered during organized digs, archaeologist Georgia Karamitrou-Mendesidi, head of the Greek archaeological service in the northern region where the discovery was made, told The Associated Press.

"It belongs to the Neolithic period, about which we know very little regarding the use of metals, particularly gold," she said. "The fact that it is made of gold indicates that these people were highly advanced, producing significant works of art."

She said the pendant, measuring rough 1 1/2 by 1 1/2 inches, was picked up last year near the town of Ptolemaida, about 90 miles southwest of the northern city of Thessaloniki. Karamitrou-Mendesidi is to present the artifact at a three-day archaeological conference that opened Thursday in Thessaloniki.

Greek police confiscated a hoard of 33 similar pieces of hammered gold jewelry from smugglers in 1997.

The woman who found the pendant did not want a reward and wished to remain anonymous, Karamitrou-Mendesidi said.

Similar finds have been excavated in modern Turkey and the Balkans, particularly in Bulgaria.

Around 4500 B.C., when the pendant was made, Greece's early Neolithic farming settlements were consolidating into structured trading centers with a developed knowledge of metalworking.

In November, archaeologists announced the discovery of two prehistoric farming settlements dating back as early as 6000 B.C. in the Ptolemaida region.

The settlement digs uncovered burial sites, clay and stone figurines of humans and animals, pottery and stone tools.

Another 25 prehistoric settlements have been found in the area.


TOPICS: History; Science
KEYWORDS: artifacts; godsgravesglyphs; greece; greek; hiker; neolith; pendant
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An undated handout picture showing a 6,500-year-old gold jewel that has been picked up in a northern Greek field by a hiker who handed it over to authorities, an archaeologist said in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2006. (AP Photo/Culture Ministry)


1 posted on 02/16/2006 1:37:33 PM PST by NormsRevenge
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To: blam; SunkenCiv

ancient 'bling' ping


2 posted on 02/16/2006 1:38:06 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Monthly Donor spoken Here. Go to ... https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: NormsRevenge

Well now we know that the ancient Greeks didn't have twist off bottlecaps.


3 posted on 02/16/2006 1:38:37 PM PST by Tijeras_Slim (We don't want to risk our core mission of rocking out and bringing funk to the funkless)
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To: NormsRevenge

If I found that, I may have just tossed it in a drawer...or in the trash.


4 posted on 02/16/2006 1:40:11 PM PST by Feiny ("Muslims are the only people who make feminists seem laid-back." Ann Coulter)
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To: NormsRevenge

Great story. Thanks


5 posted on 02/16/2006 1:42:52 PM PST by eleni121 ('Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!' (Julian the Apostate))
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To: feinswinesuksass
"If I found that, I may have just tossed it in a drawer...or in the trash."

Yup. I have a 10 million year old petrified shark tooth that I found in Charleston in my drawer of 'stuff.'

6 posted on 02/16/2006 1:44:00 PM PST by blam
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To: kiki04; Kolokotronis; MarMema; kosta50; wrathof59; katnip; FormerLib; ezfindit; Polycarp1; ...

Greek ping list.


7 posted on 02/16/2006 1:44:03 PM PST by eleni121 ('Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!' (Julian the Apostate))
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To: Tijeras_Slim

funny!!


8 posted on 02/16/2006 1:45:11 PM PST by Muzzle_em ("Mayor Nagin, what about those buses?")
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To: NormsRevenge
THAT's where I left it....

Image hosting by Photobucket

9 posted on 02/16/2006 1:45:15 PM PST by digger48
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To: NormsRevenge

Looks like the prehistoric predecessor of the six-pack ring.


10 posted on 02/16/2006 1:46:16 PM PST by dirtboy (I'm fat, I sleep most of the winter and I saw my shadow yesterday. Does that make me a groundhog?)
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To: blam

Did you carbon date it?


11 posted on 02/16/2006 1:48:36 PM PST by Feiny ("Muslims are the only people who make feminists seem laid-back." Ann Coulter)
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To: feinswinesuksass
"Did you carbon date it?"

No. I took it to an archaeologists in Charleston he told me the date.
I asked if it was rare, that's when he opened a cabinet door and showed me hundreds just like it that people had brought him over the years. LOL

12 posted on 02/16/2006 2:21:11 PM PST by blam
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To: NormsRevenge
what is it made of? Gold or wood?
I cannot tell.
13 posted on 02/16/2006 4:39:21 PM PST by Steve Van Doorn (*in my best Eric cartman voice* “I love you guys”)
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To: NormsRevenge; blam; FairOpinion; Ernest_at_the_Beach; StayAt HomeMother; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; asp1; ..
Thanks NormsRevenge.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

14 posted on 02/16/2006 10:28:56 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Islam is medieval fascism, and the Koran is a medieval Mein Kampf.)
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To: NormsRevenge

I wouldn't have parted with it, myself.


15 posted on 02/16/2006 10:35:12 PM PST by Ciexyz (Let us always remember, the Lord is in control.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Interesting find!


16 posted on 02/16/2006 10:49:51 PM PST by Ptarmigan (Proud bunny hater and killer)
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To: blam

When I was a kid we used to go to Sharks' Tooth Mountain to sift. Can't do that now: It belongs to PG&E, and it's said to be loaded with Valley Feaver spores.


17 posted on 02/16/2006 11:38:37 PM PST by bannie (The government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul.)
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To: NormsRevenge

It's quite beautiful.


18 posted on 02/17/2006 1:29:08 AM PST by MillerCreek
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To: Tijeras_Slim

LOL thats great


19 posted on 02/17/2006 2:36:58 AM PST by wafflehouse
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To: NormsRevenge

Okay everyone, time to get out the metal detectors.


20 posted on 02/17/2006 5:39:42 AM PST by Dustbunny (Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans)
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