<< Text Pages >> Orthi Petra - Rock Cut Tomb in Greece in Crete

Submitted by Andy B on Saturday, 10 April 2010  Page Views: 5619

DigsSite Name: Orthi Petra Alternative Name: A1K1
Country: Greece
NOTE: This site is 5.408 km away from the location you searched for.
Region: Crete Type: Rock Cut Tomb
Nearest Town: Rethymno  Nearest Village: Eleutherna
Latitude: 35.332501N  Longitude: 24.676559E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 no data Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 no data Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 4

Internal Links:
External Links:

Rock Cut Tomb in Crete. Dynasty of Priestesses. For a quarter century, Greek excavation director Nicholas Stampolidis and his dedicated team have been unearthing the untold stories of the people buried some 2,800 years ago in the necropolis of Orthi Petra at Eleutherna on Crete. Until now, the site has perhaps been best known for the tomb its excavators dubbed "A1K1," an assemblage of 141 cremated individuals, all but two of whom were aristocratic men who likely fell in battle in foreign lands.

Excavated between 1992 and 1996, this elaborate rock-cut tomb was brimming with fantastic burial goods that date from the ninth to the seventh century B.C., including bronze vessels, gold and silver jewelry, and military regalia, as literally befits the burial of Homeric war heroes. Now, two unprecedented discoveries since 2007--three lavish jar burials that contained the remains of a dozen related female individuals and a monumental funerary building where a high priestess and her protégés, also all related, were laid to rest--are adding to our knowledge of Eleutherna's women, and forcing the scholarly community to reevaluate their importance and role in the so-called "Dark Ages" of Greece.

The site of Eleutherna includes an acropolis, a polis, and a necropolis. Excavations in each area by various teams over the years have shown that the people who lived here--descendants of the Bronze Age civilizations of both the Minoans and the Mycenaeans, as well as the Dorians, warriors from the Greek mainland who settled on Crete between 1100 and 900 B.C.--controlled a vast territory, beginning around the ninth century B.C. The surrounding landscape, rich in stone, lumber, honey, and plant resources, may have played a large part in Eleutherna's economic success. The site is also strategically located, nestled in the olive-tree-dotted foothills of the sacred Mount Ida, some six miles from the sea and 10 miles from the so-called "cave of Zeus," where the head of the Greek pantheon was raised.

Stampolidis's team has unearthed three types of Iron Age burials at Orthi Petra--or "Standing Stone" (see "Introduction to Orthi Petra" video for more on the site's name)--dating from the ninth to the seventh century B.C.: pithos (large ceramic jar) burials, cremations, and basic inhumations. Over the years, stunning finds have come to light, ranging from exquisite bronze vessels to the fragile skeleton of a dog that accompanied its master to the other side. The team has also discovered funerary buildings and activity areas for cremations, including pyres straight out of verses from the Iliad.

Full feature at Archaeology Magazine
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.


Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Flickr
Margarites

The above images may not be of the site on this page, but were taken nearby. They are loaded from Flickr so please click on them for image credits.


Click here to see more info for this site

Nearby sites

Click here to view sites on an interactive map of the area

Key: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed

Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)

To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.


Turn off the page maps and other distractions

Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 590m S 182° Elefderna* Ancient Village or Settlement
 4.0km NNE 22° Margarites Tholos Tomb* Chambered Tomb
 12.9km SW 229° Ancient Sanctuary of Hermes* Ancient Temple
 14.8km E 100° Dimitra Sanctuary* Rock Cut Tomb
 15.4km E 100° Ancient Axos* Ancient Village or Settlement
 15.6km E 101° Tihio (Axos)* Rock Cut Tomb
 15.7km E 100° Panagia (Axos)* Ancient Village or Settlement
 16.5km W 262° Vrysinas Ancient Temple
 18.8km WNW 282° Archaeological Museum of Rethymno* Museum
 19.5km W 265° Nekropolis Minois* Chambered Tomb
 19.5km SSE 168° Apodoulou (Settlement) Ancient Village or Settlement
 19.6km SE 135° Ideon Andron* Cave or Rock Shelter
 19.8km SSE 165° Apodoulou (Tomb) Passage Grave
 21.2km ESE 116° Zominthos* Ancient Village or Settlement
 25.9km E 99° Sklavokampos* Ancient Village or Settlement
 31.4km E 97° Tylisos* Ancient Village or Settlement
 32.2km SSE 161° Agia Triada* Ancient Village or Settlement
 33.5km SSE 163° Kamilari Tholos Tomb* Chambered Tomb
 33.7km SSE 158° Phaistos* Ancient Palace
 35.7km SSE 164° Pitsidia Ancient Village or Settlement
 36.5km SSE 168° Kommos* Ancient Village or Settlement
 38.1km S 170° Matala* Rock Cut Tomb
 38.7km SE 141° Gortys* Ancient Village or Settlement
 41.3km SSE 164° Odiyitra Passage Grave
 41.8km E 89° Heraklion Museum of Archaeology* Museum
View more nearby sites and additional images

<< Emmedsbo Langdysse 4

Theopetra Cave >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

Contribute!

· NEW: I have visited
· I would like to visit
· Submit an Image
· Add a description
· Give accurate position
· Add a comment or news about this site

New Book: Heavenly Art - Rock Art in Israel

New Book: Heavenly Art - Rock Art in Israel

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"Orthi Petra" | Login/Create an Account | 4 News and Comments
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Re: Greeks find gold-covered skeleton by davidmorgan on Saturday, 09 October 2010
(User Info | Send a Message)
Archaeologists at the site of the ancient city of Eleftherna near Rethymno, Crete, made an important discovery when they unearthed the gold-adorned remains of a woman, one dated to the early Archaic Period.

Small gold plaques, 1-3cm-thick, in different forms (square, triangle, and diamond-shaped) were found next to the remains of the woman, discovered a few weeks ago by the team led by archaeology professor Nikolaos Stampolidis. The findings were inside a 2,700-year-old twin tomb, the only one in ancient Eleftherna, located very close to a necropolis of fallen warriors.

A unique jewelry piece depicting a bee as a goddess was also found amongst the thousands of gold plaques.

The findings are so extraordinary that they justify the decision made recently by the Archaeological Institute of America to include the excavations at ancient Eleftherna among the best worldwide.

In the past 27 years, since the excavations were launched, archaeologists have been creating an archaeological park, by recreating an ancient city at the site of Orthi Petra, spanning a 2,000-metre-long and 1,500-metre-wide area.

http://www.ana-mpa.gr/anaweb/user/showplain?maindoc=9151835&maindocimg=9151852&service=144&showLink=true
[ Reply to This ]

Greeks find gold-covered skeleton by davidmorgan on Saturday, 09 October 2010
(User Info | Send a Message)
Greek archaeologists have uncovered an ancient skeleton covered with gold in a grave on the southern island of Crete.

Excavator Nicholas Stampolidis says the grave dating to the 7th century BC contained more than 3 000 pieces of gold foil. The tiny ornaments, up to four 4cm long, had been sewn onto a lavish robe or shroud that has almost completely rotted away, and initially wrapped the body of a woman.

Stampolidis told the AP on Tuesday that the find, near the ancient town of Eleutherna in central Crete, is unique in the Greek world.

The grave also contained a copper bowl, pottery, imported perfume bottles, hundreds of beads made of amber, rock crystal and faience, as well as a gold pendant in the form of a bee goddess.

Source:
http://www.news24.com/SciTech/News/Greeks-find-gold-covered-skeleton-20100928

With thanks to Coldrum
[ Reply to This ]

Archaeologists find skeleton covered with gold foil in 2,700-year-old grave by davidmorgan on Sunday, 03 October 2010
(User Info | Send a Message)
From coldrum:

Greek archaeologists have found an ancient skeleton covered with gold foil in a grave on the island of Crete, officials said Tuesday.

Excavator Nicholas Stampolidis said his team discovered more than 3,000 pieces of gold foil in the 7th-century B.C. twin grave near the ancient town of Eleutherna.

Cemeteries there have produced a wealth of outstanding artifacts in recent years.

The tiny gold ornaments, from 1 to 4 centimetres (0.4 to 1.5 inches) long, had been sewn onto a lavish robe or shroud that initially wrapped the body of a woman and has almost completely rotted away but for a few off-white threads.

"The whole length of the (grave) was covered with small pieces of gold foil — square, circular and lozenge-shaped," Stampolidis told The Associated Press. "We were literally digging up gold interspersed with earth, not earth with some gold in it."

The woman, who presumably had a high social or religious status, was buried with a second skeleton in a large jar sealed with a stone slab weighing more than half a ton. It was hidden behind a false wall, to confuse grave robbers.

Experts are trying to determine the other skeleton's sex.

The grave also contained a copper bowl; pottery; perfume bottles imported from Egypt or Syria and Palestine; hundreds of amber, rock crystal and faience beads; as well as a gold pendant in the form of a bee goddess that probably was part of a rock crystal and gold necklace.

"If you look at it one way up, it's shaped like a lily," said Stampolidis, a professor of archaeology at the University of Crete who has worked at Eleutherna for the 25 years. "Turned upside down, you see a female figure holding her breasts, whose lower body is shaped as a bee with wings. The workmanship is exquisite."

The ruins of Eleutherna stand on the northern foothills of Mount Ida — the mythical birthplace of Zeus, chief of the ancient Greek gods. Past excavations have discovered a citadel, homes and an important cemetery with lavish female burials.

The town flourished from the 9th century B.C. — the dark ages of Greek archaeology that followed the fall of Crete's great Minoan palatial culture — and endured until the Middle Ages.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gX5SVZzbhOKVnPCa5pNoCvFIePew?docId=4661350
[ Reply to This ]

Video, Introduction to Orthi Petra by Andy B on Saturday, 10 April 2010
(User Info | Send a Message)
[ Reply to This ]

Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>
We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.