Flesh disintegrated, but wreath remained: skull of crowned athlete found in Greece (pH๏τo)

Flesh disintegrated, but wreath remained: skull of crowned athlete found in Greece (pH๏τo)
A skull decorated with a golden wreath of laurel

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.

Flesh disintegrated, but wreath remained: skull of crowned athlete found in Greece (pH๏τo)
Skull with a golden wreath. Source: Archaeological Museum of Agios Nikolaos, Crete
Flesh disintegrated, but wreath remained: skull of crowned athlete found in Greece (pH๏τo)
Skull with a golden wreath. Source: Archaeological Museum of Agios Nikolaos/A.Kouremenos

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.

The skull of an athlete with a golden wreath gives an idea of the life of people in the era of antiquity. It shows that athletes were highly respected in ancient Greece.

Earlier, we told you about a Vatican researcher who claims that Da Vinci hid the date of the apocalypse in his painting of Jesus.

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