Home News Skull of a young athlete with a gold wreath, 1st century AD, from Lato, modern Agios Nikolaos, Crete, Greece. Agios Nikolaos, Archaeological Museum

Skull of a young athlete with a gold wreath, 1st century AD, from Lato, modern Agios Nikolaos, Crete, Greece. Agios Nikolaos, Archaeological Museum

News Team · November 5, 2024 · Comments off

Scientists from Greece have discovered a unique artifact in the cemetery of the ancient city of Lato in Crete – the skull of an athlete dating back to 2500 BC. The skull has a golden wreath in the shape of a laurel branch.

The wreath was preserved because the athlete’s flesh had decomposed over thousands of years. A silver coin was found in the mouth of the skull, which probably symbolized a payment to Charon, the carrier of souls to Hades, GreekReporter writes.

The skull with a golden wreath has become one of the most prominent exhibits at the Agios Nikolaos Museum in Crete.

Skull with a golden wreath

The city of Lato, where the artifact was found, was an ancient settlement in Crete. Its ruins are located near the village of Kritza. Lato was a Dorian city-state that existed in the 5th-4th centuries BC.