Mass graves in Phaleron Delta
Anne Ingvarsson Sundström explains the findings for the staff of Swedish Embassy in Athens
In April news of sensational findings in Phaleron Delta, where a new opera house and a national library are being constructed by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, hit newspapers and TV channels both in Greece and abroad. Mass graves containing the bodies of more than 80 executed, mostly young males were found, and there is some likelihood that the victims are those who supported the coup attempt of Cylon in the 630s BC.
The Swedish Institute at Athens participates in the documentation of this important find with the help of funding received from The Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences and from The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities. The field documentation of the graves was concluded last week by Dr Anne Ingvarsson Sundström with help from osteologist Ylva Bäckström, and a detailed report is now in the making.
