Pieces of the Past According to the Bones

Yesterday, we went to the Athenian Agora--the open public space in which many different types of activities went on including those of political, social, religious, and commercial purposes. We were only able to go thorough a brisk walkthrough of the museum, accompanied with a stop-off at the temple of Hephaestus. My absolute favorite part was the hour long talk that we had with the bone expert: Maria Liston, a professor at the University of Waterloo.

Maria works with skeletons so that she can better piece together who these people were and what their stories were as well. She showed us five six different stories and each one was extremely fascinating in and of its own right.

Maria mentioned that she specializes in well burials. Well burials are not normal of the time, which makes the people found in them that much more interesting, as well as the stories to how they ended up in there. The skeletons also happen to usually be quite well preserved as they are not exposed to the highly destructive season's water and temperature fluctuations that are topside. (I am going to walk through what Maria told us and showed us on the bone. What she said was a bit graphic, so if you are a little faint of heart, feel free to skip over this blog post--I will not take offense to it.)

The first tale Maria shared with us has to do with one well in particular, one she affectionately deemed the "Baby Well." In it was found the bodies of 400+ infants. You see, back in the time of ancient Greeks, midwives administered pre-natal, delivery, and even sometimes post-delievery care. Infants were not deemed part of the family (or even really human) until they passed they were aged approximately ten days, after which they would be accepted as part of the family. Most of the babies in the well were those who either died in the womb, were born dead, or died soon after birth. The midwives needed somewhere to dispose of the bodies (bodies not deemed worthy enough to bury in the family cemetery), and apparently they decided that the well was as good a place as any to do so. Usually, the wells in which they were thrown were no longer being used for drinking purposes (not so with the well in which the fifth century Athenian was found).

People on a Segway tour of Athens (to lighten the mood).

However, one baby found in the well was very different than any of the rest: it was a whopping six months old. Upon examination of the bones, Maria told us the heart-rending story. First, she held up a large fragment of the skull, a dull green color due to the copper residue also found in the well. Flipping it over so that we could see the top, she pointed to a gash in the bone where the child has been hit very violently with a heavy, blunt object. As baby's skeletons are very resilient, damage to that extent would require much force and malignant intent. A blow of that magnitude would induce some cranial hemorrhaging, yet the infant did not die immediately--the tell-tale spongy bone around the injury was a testament that the child lived for as much as a week afterwards. In addition to the blunt force trauma to the head, the baby also showed bone bruising on the upper arms, as well as, a bone chip where the ulna ends in the elbow joint--a sign of twisting of the infant's wrists. Every single injury was typical of a child abuse case, and sadly this little guy is the first documented case of such a gruesome sin. He eventually died of his injuries. My heart wept for him, but I know that as soon as he passed, he was in the arms of the Father, and was held lovingly, perhaps for the first time.

Temple of Hephaestus.

The next skeleton we became acquainted with was a fifth century Athenian--the only one in captivity. Also found in a well, he was the the victim of a gruesome murder, brutally beaten to death. He was hit in the back--his scapula was fractured with pieces of the bones peeling off (this peeling only occurs with live bone), and the two ribs closest to the shoulder blade bore hairline fractures. He also had repeated brutal blunt force trauma to the face, breaking out his front teeth, and fracturing his eye socket and nasal bone. His was also indeed a very sad story.

In the next well, actually two female skeletons around the age of thirty were found together. They most likely died in the Herulean's sack of Athens. The first woman was very sick to begin with--she had a hole about two centimeters in the center of the back of her head. This was actually where  her skull was eaten away by bone cancer, cancer that was most likely metastasized breast cancer. She actually died in the heat of the Herulean invasion. She, too, had blunt force trauma to the face, but she also had some deep cuts on her skull. The blade bounced off her skull, due to its dullness--the weapon that spelled her demise was most likely a battle axe. Though we are not completely sure what killed her, it more than likely was the bleeding out and brain hemorrhaging. The second woman was most likely a textile worker--the enamel of her bottom teeth was worn down as if she had engaged in a repeated pulling motion of thread. Also, something I found very interesting to see was a cavity and an oral abscess where the bone was eaten away. This woman also endured serious facial injuries which were the most likely cause of death.

Yet another skeleton they had in the basement of the agora was one of what appeared to possible be one of the Herulean invaders that had sacked Athens. His head was much rounded, his face much wider than the Athenians. His bones bore deep cuts in them with some new bone growth; the Heruleans had sacked some cities before arriving at Athens: these injuries are evidence of this. His ulna was also fractured completely in half from what appeared to be a parrying move (a defensive move in which the arm is thrown up in order to protect the face). He also possessed some facial injuries.In addition, his bones (spine, leg, and pelvis?), he had incredibly deep puncture wounds about five centimeters apart.  A rather strange wound . . .Professor Maria investigated and found that back in the time period, Greeks possessed an equivalent of today's pitchfork with two prongs five centimeters apart. Best guess is that he was killed by the Athenians in the sack of Athens and his body dragged away by the farm tool.

Lastly (and unviolently), we saw the cremated remains of a rich Athenian lady. She possessed one of the richest burials which was very interesting on it's own. However, what didn't sit right is that the archaeologists found a little funerary dedication to a child in her grave as well. Not seeing the bones of child, they were confused to say the least. However, Professor Maria searched through the cremated remains and bone fragments and actually found the bones of a child as well, proving that the work is never done until EVERYTHING is looked over.

Well enough for now, and once again, I am sorry for the gruesome nature of the post, but I find all this very fascinating. Truth be told, this was my favorite part thus far. Perhaps a future job in this field will be a possibility!

Another view of the temple!

Trivia Time:

• One percent milk here is referred to as "diet milk" on the side of the carton.
• People frequently double park here on the streets. If someone is boxed in, they simply just sit in their car and lay on the horn until the culprits come out and move their cars.
• Apparently the prerequisite here to be a policeman is to be really, really, REALLY ridiculously good looking (but seriously . . . Lizzie and I are determined to get photos with them before we leave, while doing research of course!!;b)