Eastern Catholic Ping List
Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
Posted on 10/14/2005 6:31:41 AM PDT by NYer
ATHENS -- Deep under a quiet valley in southern Greece, archaeologists are struggling to unravel a 1,400-year-old tragedy that wiped out a rural Byzantine community.
Sometime in the late 6th century, a group of at least 33 young men, women, and children sought sanctuary from an unknown terror in a sprawling subterranean network of caves in the eastern Peloponnese.
Carrying supplies of food and water, oil-lamps, a large Christian cross and their small savings, the refugees apparently hunkered down to wait out the threat. But experts believe the sanctuary became a tomb once supplies ran out.
"In the end, they knew there was no hope of escape and just lay down to die in the pitch black," archaeologist Dimitris Hatzilazarou said.
At the time, Greece, which was part of the Byzantine Empire, was reeling under a wave of invasions by Slavs and Avars -- a nomadic people of Eurasia -- some of whom may have penetrated as far south as the Peloponnese.
The caves, near the modern village of Andritsa retained their dark secret until 2004. Finds from the excavation are currently on display at the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens.
Hatzilazarou and fellow excavator Lina Kormazopoulou are still searching for clues to explain the calamity.
"We think something prevented these people from getting out. It may well have been human action such as an enemy attack, or even a natural event," Kormazopoulou said. "Future investigation should help answer the riddle, but we may never learn the full truth."
Digs in late 2004 and early 2005 revealed human remains -- many huddled in what look like small family clusters -- 113 fired clay pots, a large bronze processional cross inscribed with the Lord's Prayer in Greek, cheap jewelry and over 200 coins.
Some of the pots had been wedged among the cave's impressive stalagmites, an indication the refugees tried to gather water dripping from the roof.
The refugees -- Greek-speaking Christians -- probably entered the caves through a near-vertical, 14-meter shaft. "They seem to have had warning of an imminent danger, and fled to a hiding place they knew," Kormazopoulou said.
"We found a man, woman and child lying together, a little girl with what may have been a pet animal in her arms, an 18-year-old woman with a lamp by her head," Hadzilazarou said. "Nearly every group had a large water jar next to them, as well as smaller jugs and pots."
The coins helped date the events to just after A.D. 575. A Byzantine chronicle mentions a Slav invasion of the Peloponnese in A.D. 587, but so far no archaeological evidence has been found to back that up.
Excavators believe the victims, who included teens and children, succumbed to thirst, hunger and hypothermia.
"When we first entered, it was a big shock," Kormazopoulou said. "I couldn't get the pictures out of my head for a long time, I was haunted by what we had seen."
Plato's fault!
Eastern Catholic Ping List
Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
Never back into a Greek Cave!
Ping!
Bring in the Cold Case TV people and get to the bottom of this!
FYI ping.
My very first thought is that the Mohamettan savages were sawing the heads off of Christians and raping their daughters in nearby villages, so this group of Christians sought refuge.
I could be wrong, but Islam has made such a name for itself over the last 1400 years, it's hard not to instantly connect terror to Islam.
It was a little early for that I think.
"...we may never learn the full truth..." but that won't stop us from speculating like crazy!
I think the dates are wrong
Thanks for the post - very interesting. Perhaps a reminder of things to come?
Sixth Seal: Cosmic Disturbances: Revelation 6
12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and *behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the *moon became like blood.
13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, *the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains,
16 and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
Islam would not rear its ugly head n earnest for another 30-50 years or so, and terrorize the Arabian peninsula before spreading out.
Some other murdering savages must get the credit this time. Long dead and forgotten, as islam will surely be.
No published photographs yet? No maps of the site?
Source: Andritsa Cave: Mystery in the Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens
Vases, oil lamps, jewels, coins, human remains and metal objects are among the findings that can be seen at the Athens Byzantine and Christian Museum's exhibition "Andritsa Cave, Fatal Refuge" that is presented by the Ephorate of Palaioanthropology and Speleology of Southern Greece, from September 27 to November 15, 2005. An exhibition that aspires to shed some light and answers the questions raised out of a mysterious archaeological discovery of 2004.
Andritsa precipice cave is located in the greater area of the Municipality of Lerna in Argolida (Peloponnese), between the villages of Velanidia and Andritsa. It was discovered accidentally in the beginning of 2004 and its archaeological examination brought to light findings dated in the last quarter of the 6th century AD. Human skeletons, many vessels, oil lamps, a great number of metal-made objects, coins, as well as a processional cross, were found scattered around the cave, without any trace of any posterior human intervention, a fact that made this discovery a great mystery.
At least 33 individuals, mainly children, adolescents and young women, Christian dwellers of a nearby community, found refuge there to escape a supposed great danger. With them they carried many supplies, water, food and oil lamps to help them see in the dark. But for some unexplained reason, they all found tragic death trapped inside the cave. The incident could be related to an attack by enemies that could have occurred in 575/6, as indicated mainly by the coins found in the cave.
The first exploration mission in the cave was lead by the Ephorate of Palaioanthropology and Speleology of Southern Greece, between November 2004 and January 2005, in order to map down the topography of the zone and substantiate the findings. The exhibition presented at the ground floor level of Villa Iliissia (the building that houses today the museum itself and used to serve as residence for the Duchess of Piacenza in the 19th cent.), features now the results of these first research.
In the building's entrance hall, visitors get informed about the cave itself, the archaeological findings and the first conclusions of the scientists. In the first room, we can see projections of digital pictures of the cave space and findings. Another three rooms follow, where we see a small but representative sample of the objects, exhibited exactly as they were found, in large clusters, on the cave's four naturally demarcated levels. In the last room, there is a copper-made processional cross that was found next to three wine vases (also made of copper) in the far edge of the cave, where some of the last survivors found resting place.
The recent discovery of Andritsa cave is of particular interest, as our knowledge on the era and the area is limited. The exhibition space is designed in such a way to help the visitor feel what it was like to be in that humid and dark place and give them the opportunity to acquire some knowledge of one of the most obscure and controversial periods of Greece's history. As far as the Byzantine and Christian Museum is concerned, the exhibition signals the beginning of a fruitful collaboration with the Ephorates of Antiquities.
In the context of the exhibition, the museum has designed an educational program addressed to school groups, under the title "In a time of anguish." Young visitors can obtain the relevant material of the museum free of charge.
In summer a cave is so cool that warm clothes are necessary and they may have fled their from maurauders without sufficient warm clothing.
I wonder if they have considered carbon dioxide(?)poisoning. It's very possible they were using charcoal in some of these pots near their beds to heat the cave. This produces a lethal gas which collects near the floor.
One indication that this might have been the culprit is that the pet animals also apparently died in their arms as they lay on the floor. No animal is going to simply lay down and die from starvation or thirst like that.
"My very first thought is that the Mohamettan savages were sawing the heads off of Christians and raping their daughters in nearby villages, so this group of Christians sought refuge."
This was hundreds of years too early.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.