Archaeology News Online

Russian archaeologists have discovered a sarcophagus with juvenile remains while digging the Gospitalny burial mound in Crimea, the oldest graves of which date back to the 4th century BC, the golden age of the Bosporan Kingdom, the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences told TASS on Thursday. Excavations at the Gospitalny burial mound in Crimea  [Credit: © Valery Sharifulin/TASS] "Two stone tombs covered by slabs were the oldest burials found under the mound. One grave had been robbed during ancient times, while the other one contained a wooden sarcophagus covered with gypsum ornaments holding a teenager’s skeleton inside. The wooden sarcophagus had been crushed and partly decayed and disintegrated," the report says. Archaeologists found many sports-related items near the buried juvenile: 10 alabastrons - vessels for oil that was used for exercises and competitions, a strigil - a tool for cleansing the athlete’s body by scraping off oil, perspiration and

Russian archaeologists have discovered a sarcophagus with juvenile remains while digging the Gospitalny burial mound in Crimea, the oldest graves of which date back to the 4th century BC, the golden age of the Bosporan Kingdom, the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences told TASS on Thursday. Excavations at the Gospitalny burial mound in Crimea  [Credit: © Valery Sharifulin/TASS] "Two stone tombs covered by slabs were the oldest burials found under the mound. One grave had been robbed during ancient times, while the other one contained a wooden sarcophagus covered with gypsum ornaments holding a teenager’s skeleton inside. The wooden sarcophagus had been crushed and partly decayed and disintegrated," the report says. Archaeologists found many sports-related items near the buried juvenile: 10 alabastrons - vessels for oil that was used for exercises and competitions, a strigil - a tool for cleansing the athlete’s body by scraping off oil, perspiration and