Symposium to showcase finds from 1600 BC tomb found in Marathon

The tomb of a warrior, and its contents, discovered in 2016 in the area of Plasi on the plain of Marathon in eastern Attica, will be presented at a symposium organized by the University of Athens which starts on Thursday.

The built tomb contained a sword, knife and arrows, and has been dated to around 1600 BC – during the early phase of the Bronze Age Mycenaean civilization which dominated the Greek mainland until its demise in around 1200 BC.

The tomb was discovered a thousand years later in the 8th century BC by local residents of Marathon, who left the weapons in situ and meticulously collected the skeletal remains of the warrior and, believing he was a prehistoric mythical hero, built a sanctuary in his honor on top of the tomb.

The sanctuary was eventually destroyed at around the time of the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC which pitted Athens against an invading Persian army. This has led to speculation that it was destroyed by marauding Persian soldiers.

It was eventually forgotten as it was sidelined by the nearby Marathon Burial Mound, which marked the victory of the Athenians under the command of Miltiades against vastly superior Persian numbers.

The symposium will take place on Thursday and Friday, at Athens University (30 Panepistimiou Street).