A 2,000-year-old statue was found dumped in a garbage dump in Greece
Greek police said Wednesday they are investigating how an ancient Greek statue came to be dumped in a black plastic bag near a garbage dump in the northern city of Thessaloniki.
Organized crime unit He said he was checking. “After a 32-year-old man went to the police to dispose of a statue he found in a black bag next to a garbage can.”
According to a preliminary assessment by the Archaeological Service, the headless statue dates back to the Hellenistic period (323 to 31 BC), according to a police statement. Officials also released a photo of the statue, which measures 32 by 10 inches.
Greek police
The statement added that it will be transferred to a criminal investigation team in northern Greece for laboratory testing, then to antiquities for evaluation and conservation.
Due to the abundance of artifacts from ancient Greece throughout the country, the police have long had to fight against the illegal traffic of ancient Greece.
Throughout Greece, road and construction works are still being discovered regularly in that era.
Accidental archaeological discoveries are relatively common in Greece, known for its ancient monuments and often in the construction of buildings or public works.
In December, workers installing natural gas pipelines near Athens buried a Roman-era statue of Hermes in a brick pit near the Acropolis. Thessaloniki unveiled the decades-long construction of its metro system, which officially opened weeks ago in November.
Key discoveries, including marble-paved Roman streets and tens of thousands of artifacts from the Greek, Byzantine and Ottoman periods, are now on display in subway stations.
Previously, in other parts of Europe, ancient monuments were found in the dirt. In the year In 2023, it was a Roman-era statue of Venus. Found out In a landfill in Rennes, France. In the same year, ancient bronze statues in trash can In Tuscany, Italy.
In the year In 2013, an 1,800-year-old stone carving may have been a Roman god. Ancient garbage In England.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
