Friday, May 11, 2007

2700 Year-Old Piece of Fabric Found inside Funeral Urn of Unknown Ancient Greek

It is only speculation whether or not the Trojan war really occurred as depicted by Homer in his epics, Iliad and Odyssey. We only know that a war did take place around a city that quite likely was Troy, that Troy was destroyed utterly. This war, however, is still regarded as the defining cultural moment in Greek history. In Iliad, the poet describes Slain Heroes being cremated in elaborate funerals, which fell out of fashion in later times. But with the latest discovery of rare 2700 year old piece of fabric along with dried pomegranates and charred human bones inside a funeral copper urn confirms that this tradition was popular even later. Archaeologists have discovered the artifacts from a burial they believe imitated the elaborate cremation of soldiers described in Homer's Iliad.

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