Extraordinary Find
He stood there, perplexed. How could this even be possible? The scenery blended as he tilted his head toward the yard’s floor.
The expected thump of the ground didn’t come, and instead, he saw soil, broken and dry. Every muscle in his body knotted up as the realization flooded in. They had just found something incredible, and it didn’t belong to him.
Crete, Greece
A Greek farmer in a small village in Crete loved his land. He grew and harvested his own vegetables and even had plans to have livestock in the near future.
He cared for it all with such love and devotion; tomatoes sprouting to life, lemons on the lemon tree changing colors and his olive trees growing taller each day. Little did he know, one of his olive trees had an incredible secret hidden beneath.
Way Home
In the summer of 2018, this man was on his way home from a nearby village where he would buy his necessary tools to upkeep his land.
As soon as he drove into his yard, he immediately thought about parking under some shade. The day was too hot, and he would have to get his car out some hours after, he didn’t want his car to be scorching.
Some Shade
As he scanned his yard for the best place to park, he noticed his enormous olive trees. These trees stretched upwards and outwards toward the light, drinking in rays of the sun.
Under the foliage there was a right amount of shade, so the farmer decided to park under one of these natural beauties. But as soon as he put the car in park and undid his seatbelt, the car shifted awkwardly in the soil. He could never have expected to find such a mystery.
Shifted
The farmer still in his car was bewildered, it seemed like the front tire had gone into quicksand. He quickly reversed the car trying to get his vehicle steady, but it wouldn’t budge.
He pressed down on the acceleration and finally the vehicle reversed from where it was ‘stuck.’ Little did he know, he was about to unearth something incredible.
Four-Foot Hole
As he looked to see what had caused the car to shift weirdly when parked, he couldn’t believe what he was witnessing.
Right where his tire had been lodged, was a four-foot-wide hole that had emerged in the patch of land he had just vacated. Perched on the edge of his seat, shivers immediately went up and down his spine.
Deep
The farmer got out of his car and peered closer. The hole was big, and it seemed to be quite deep too. Had he noticed this just now?
Or did the soil give in with the weight of his car? Soon, he would find out and this would make him immediately call for backup.
More Soil
He immediately thought it might be a broken irrigation pipe. The olive trees need to be saturated with daily water so this would make sense, the soil was soft, and his car was way too heavy, making it collapse.
But still, the farmer was intrigued. Peeking inside the hole he could only see darkness, but as his eyes shifted, he saw the cavern below was carved into limestone, and this sank eight feet into the ground. Something was there, hidden. But what?
Back-Up
The town where the farmer lived had a rich history, he knew from the moment he looked inside the giant hole that he had uncovered something of importance.
He decided to reach out to the local heritage ministry Lassithi Ephorate of Antiquities, which sent out a team of archeologists to investigate the site. But as soon as they dug their way down, they all knew, this wasn’t theirs to investigate but the government’s.
Lost Tomb
The team kept going with their work to try to understand more about the farmer's find. But still, it didn’t take them long to realize that this farmer had uncovered a lost tomb.
Perplexed and rather excited with the mysterious find, they continued…but then, they noticed dirt-covered objects in the cavern.
Clay Vessels
The archeologists had dug down deep into the cavern by a vertical trench that they dug, by doing so, they could access three chambers that they had found! In one of the niches, the team found a coffin with skeleton remains inside.
After some studies, they realized that these were from a male man. Then scattered before the coffin were a dozen clay vessels that had been used as containers. Still, this wasn’t everything they had found in the tomb.
Second Chamber
In the second chamber, the team uncovered another coffin. These were made out of clay and had been kept in excellent condition, hidden underneath the surface.
Another skeleton was found, and it was also male. But something was off about this whole investigation, the second coffin found also had a dozen of pots that had been buried with him. Who were these men?
Team Work
The team was entirely bewildered by their find, but still, they needed answers. Examining and studying the design and quality of the pots would surely give them the answers they needed to unveil the mystery.
But two questions still were of great importance – What had happened in this area? And who were these men? Soon, they would get answers.
Questions
The first thing the team noticed was the pots and coffins were made out of good quality clay, meaning that these people were wealthy men of some sort.
High-quality pottery indicated that they were doing well for themselves, but other details suggested otherwise. But still, the questions persisted.
Ritual Jars
They identified the Minoan tomb, nearly perfectly preserved despite its advanced age, in a pit measuring roughly four feet across and eight feet deep.
The niches were full of Greek ritual jars called amphorae, this made them uncover more about these two men.
Beehive Tomb
According to Archaeology News Network, most Minoan settlements found on Crete are located in the lowlands and plains rather than the mountainous regions of Ierapetra. Meaning that this find was incredibly lucky.
According to the archeologist’s statement, “the ceramic typology [says] the tomb can be dated to the Late Minoan IIIA-B period, approximately from 1400 to 1200 BC.” This made them realize something entirely different too; the Minoans of that period often buried their nobles in tombs called the ‘Tholos’ which are massive beehive looking structure with domed walls.
Minoans
The Minoan tomb had been there for almost 3,500 years. But still, they needed to know more about their history to piece the story together.
The Minoans developed incredible skills: impressive art and ceramics, and lavish tombs abounded. With this discovery, they hoped they could find out a lot more about these people.
Rare Tomb
Unlike many ancient tombs, this grave was never discovered by thieves. In fact, the site likely would have remained sealed if it weren’t for the farmers’ ‘stuck’ tire!
The archeologists took everything to their lab and began to discover more and more incredible mysteries about this rare tomb.
Fertile Lands
These bones were an unusual and rare find, even in the fertile lands of Greece.
This latest find offers further proof of the ancient civilization’s presence—as Mark Cartwright notes for Ancient History Encyclopedia, the Minoans are most renowned for their labyrinthine palace complexes, which likely inspired the classic Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.
Unearthed
Much of the Minoan’s history is still unclear, but thanks to a farmer now they know a little more…“We are particularly pleased with this great archaeological find as it is expected to further enhance our culture and history,” said the deputy mayor of Local Communities, Agrarian, and Tourism of Ierapetra, Argyris Pantazis.
Finding these men, Argyris said, “is also a response to all those who doubt that there were Minoans in Lerapetra” — the little section of Crete where the tombs were found — “This is a great day for Lerapetra!” Still, it makes you wonder, what other artifacts are waiting to be unearthed?