Grave of the athlete

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Athletes grave, Ugento

The athlete's grave ( Tomba dell'Atleta in Italian ) is an ancient grave in the town of Ugento in the Salento in the Italian region of Apulia . From a technical point of view, it is a "half-chamber", which is how half-embedded systems are defined. The grave was found in 1970 during work on the extension of a house near Via Salentina, removed and rebuilt in the local museum, the Nuovo Museo Archeologico Ugento .

The floor, gable roof and walls are made of large slabs of local limestone . The chamber measures 2.95 × 1.1 × 0.8 m. The walls are painted with multicolored linear motifs in red and blue on white. A base zone and horizontal bands structure the walls. The pediments are adorned with an aryballos - a spherical jar of anointing oil that athletes often wore tied on the wrist - as well as a rooster and a dove.

Two individuals were buried in the grave at different times, of which almost nothing has survived. There is a young adult (around 30 years old) and a boy around 15 years old. The chronological gap between the first and the second burial is confirmed by the additions and the structure of the tomb. The young man is born in the late 6th or early 5th century BC. (510–490 BC), which is also confirmed by imported red-figure Attic ceramics or bronzes ( oinochoe ). There are also two local ceramics, a Trozzella and Kalathos . The deceased probably took part in sporting competitions, as indicated by two symbolic bronze scrapers. The boy is based on elements from the 4th century BC. Like some black lacquered mini vases, as well as the Aryballoi ointment vessels for sporting competitions.

The athlete's grave refers to the Panhellenistic world (half-chamber, imported pottery), which mixes with elements of local production. Like the graves in Cavallino in Apulia , it was one of the first painted chamber graves in the area.

literature

  • Felice Gino Lo Porto: Tomba messapica ad Ugento. In: Atti e memorie della Società Magna Grecia. Roma, NS 11/12, 1970/71 (1972), pp. 99-152.
  • Nadin Burkardt: Apulia - The archaeological guide. Von Zabern, Mainz 2012, ISBN 978-3-8053-4458-6 , pp. 139–140.

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