New impressive findings in Kerameikos

The heads of two female statues were discovered at the bottom of an ancient well in the Cemetery of Kerameikos in Athens, after excavations by the German Archaeological Institute. This discovery was unexpected and these two female statues came into light following the cleaning of the well, which particularly belongs to a Classical-period bath.

Archaeologists used four pumps to draft the water from the bottom of this well that was in use for almost 800 years, from the 5th century BC till the 6th century AD. The condition of the heads is very good, despite the two large "wounds" that they carry, as obviously someone hit them strongly before throwing them into the well. It is unknown when this happened exactly, but the two heads date from the 3rd century AD, as shown by their hairstyle!

Indeed, their hair is brushed like Cornelia Salonina (death 268 AD), wife of Roman Emperor Gallienus and mother of Valerian II. The fact that the girls were brushing their hair the same way as the wife of the Emperor make archaeologists believe that they originated from a noble family and that these statues were set at around 253-268 AD. Apparently fashion had a strong influence since the antiquity!

As this discovery coincide with the celebration of 100 years since the German Archaeological Institute started excavations in the cemetery of Kerameikos, these two heads are depicted in the poster of this celebration.

The photo is from www.tovima.gr