Lost city of Tenea, reputed home of Trojan war captives, is discovered in Greece
- The citizens of the city, previously known mostly from ancient texts, appear to have been ‘remarkably affluent’
Greece’s culture ministry said Tuesday that archaeologists have located the first tangible remains of a lost city that the ancient Greeks believed was first settled by Trojan captives of war after the sack of Troy.
A ministry statement said excavations from September to early October in the southern Greek region of the Peloponnese turned up “proof of the existence of the ancient city” of Tenea, until now known mostly from ancient texts.
Finds included walls and clay, marble or stone floors of buildings, as well as household pottery, a bone gaming die and more than 200 coins dating from the 4th century BC to late Roman times.
A pottery jar containing the remains of two human foetuses was also found amid the foundations of one building. That was unusual, as the ancient Greeks typically buried their dead in organised cemeteries outside the city walls.
The citizens seem to have been remarkably affluent
Lead archaeologist Elena Korka, who has been excavating in the area since 2013, said her team had only been digging in the rich cemeteries surrounding Tenea until this year.
In one, antiquities smugglers dug up two remarkable 6th century BC marble statues of young men in 2010 and tried to sell them for €10 million (US$11.3 million).