Tuesday, January 20, 2004

DIGGING ATHENS

The impending Olympics have sparked frenetic archaeological digs throughout host city Athens:
The 2004 Games have been a boon for archaeologists, bringing the biggest single antiquities treasure hunt in Athens and surrounding areas. Experts rushed in trying to beat the bulldozers at dozens of Olympic-related sites ? from sports venues to highways.

The finds so far range from prehistoric settlements to 2,500-year-old cemeteries to ruins from the Roman period, when Emperor Theodosius abolished the Olympics in A.D. 394. Christianity had taken root, and he deemed the games to be pagan.

''I don't believe there was ever such a large-scale archaeological excavation in Athens,'' said Dina Kaza, who heads the dig at the old seaside airport.

Sounds like it's about time for a large scale dig in one of the world's richest sites.

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