Thread by @FlintDibble

My third thread on the Athenian plague of 430 B.C.E. looks at the archaeological evidence uncovered for this disastrous epidemic

This is a tale of death, but also of resilience and shared humanity (CW archaeological skeletal remains)
/1

If you missed my first two threads on the Athenian plague, you can find the intro thread here:

https://twitter.com/FlintDibble/status/1242788506260377601

And a thread on Pericles’ failed leadership during the plague here:

https://twitter.com/FlintDibble/status/1243146574680727557

/2

The archaeology of epidemics is rooted in death and burial

In many ways, our treatment of our dead loved ones is at the core of our shared humanity. Human groups develop rituals to mark the passing of those dear to us

https://twitter.com/FlintDibble/status/1138102486420676608

/3

In times of extreme societal stress (war, famine, migration, disease), the typical ways a group deals with its dead necessarily change

WWII cemeteries are a good example. They’re different from ordinary cemeteries. Still, they reveal our resilience in the face of crisis
/4

The Athenians similarly erected monuments to their fallen war dead. The fallen soldiers at the Battle of Marathon against the Persians (490 B.C.) were buried together under a mound near the battleground (Thuc. 2.34)

You can visit today (after the lockdown is over)
/5

It was excavated by Heinrich Schliemann and then by Valerios Stais in the 1800s. Not surprisingy, James Whitley (1994, p. 215) notes that, “Stais was by far the better, and in this instance luckier, excavator”

(sorry, an in-joke for the archaeologists)
/6

According to Whitley (215-216), there are 3 principal elements to the burial: 1) a central cremation “tray” containing the cremated remains of the war dead, 2) an exterior trench with offerings of pottery, and 3) the mound itself and grave markers around the mound
/7

The features at Marathon are different from typical Athenian burial practices in 490 B.C.

Instead they echo earlier aristocratic burial norms, both in Greek epic myth (the mound described for Patroclus at Troy) and earlier mounds in the large Athenian cemetery at kerameikos
/8

The archaeology of the Marathon mound marks it as different, set up in response to a resolved crisis

Whitley argues it heroized the fallen soldiers who had valiantly fought off the invading Persians and preserved the early Athenian democracy
/9

A few decades ago, the construction of new metro lines in Athens led to a flurry of excavations. One of the metro stations was planned to be located near the Kerameikos, the largest cemetery of ancient Athens, just outside the city walls.
/10

If you ever get a chance to visit Athens, don’t miss the Kerameikos. It is a peaceful site, often not as crowded as more popular archaeological attractions

But it is no less impressive, filled with the haunting beauty that humanity creates to honor their dead loved ones
/11

The cemetery provides a record of typical burial, often in family plots. Some burials were marked by large monuments or collections of grave goods, others were just simple burials

It’s not only a record of people, it reveals how they responded to historical crises
/12

When the Persians invaded a second time in 480 B.C., they took Athens and razed it. After the Athenian navy won at Salamis, the Athenians returned home

Worried about a 3rd invasion, they quickly built a city-wall in here including marble tombstones among limestone blocks
/13

These tombstones formed the foundation of the wall that protected the Athenians for decades

This crisis response was not a societal breakdown, but rather shows the resilience of people in the face of danger, banding together to protect one another in dark times
/14

The excavations (led by Effie Baziotopoulou-Valavani) for the Kerameikos metro location (later changed) uncovered nearly 1000 graves

This was the outskirts of the cemetery: “No large luxurious monuments were found, nor fragments of architectural members or grave reliefs”
/15

One of these graves was different from the rest

It was large: 6.5m (21 ft) long and 1.6m (5 ft) deep. The pottery within dates it to ca. 430 B.C.

The five successive layers of 89 skeletons “buried in a disorderly fashion” seems reminiscent of plague burials
/16

Thucydides eye-witness account of the plague describes unburied bodies around the city and in sanctuaries where the sick congregated

“All the funeral customs they usually observed were cast into confusion and each buried their dead as best they could” (2.52, transl. Mynott)
/17

“Many people resorted to quite shameless forms of disposal through their lack of means after so many of their relatives had already died. They took advantage of the funeral pyres others had raised, and some of them would move in first…
/18

“place their own dead on the pyre and set fire to it, while others threw whoever’s body they were carrying on top of one that was already burning and went away.”

The picture is one of total chaos
/19

The plague pit uncovered by Baziotopoulou-Valavani presents a slightly different picture of treatment of the dead

The large pit was first dug into an area of an existing cemetery, disturbing earlier graves

But these individuals were treated respectfully
/20

“At the bottom and by its south-western edge 30 skulls were found” (p. 190)

The disturbed burials were carefully laid to rest before filling the pit with plague victims

Throughout this burial, the details reveal clear effort made to honor the dead
/21

“At the lower levels, the deceased were more widely spaced and it seems that they had been covered with some earth; still, their position and direction remained in the same disorder as in the upper layers…

Contrary to the careless inhumation of the adults,
/22

“the children seem to have been treated with special care. The infants’ bodies were not buried in a pot but they were covered by [large pieces of ceramic pots]…

The grave offerings consisted of 30 small vases scattered among the dead, especially in the lower layers
/23

As established in earlier threads, it’s clear the Athenians recognized the contagiousness of the disease and the need for various forms of physical distancing (even if crowding made it impossible)

Despite the recognized danger, care was made to bury these people
/24

The plague was terrible for Athens and her people. Some scholars estimate 33% of the population died from the plague, others more and others less. We don’t have precise numbers, so it’s a debate

But this mass-grave provides a wealth of detail to understand ancient Athens
/25

One of the children, an 11 old girl that the archaeologists named “Myrtis” (myrtle), was the first ancient Greek person to have their face reconstructed by a team of scientists (Papagrigorakis et al. 2011)

We can look into the eyes of a little ancient Athenian girl
/26

The team suggested that ancient DNA indicated the Athenian plague was Typhoid fever (other scholars argue the evidence is insufficient)

I’m not here to debate, but I hope continued study of the victims continues to tell us more about life and death in ancient Athens
/27

Athens was ravaged by years of plague in wartime and yet

“This mass burial is therefore a sort of state burial. But this time the state does not honour its dead soldiers of a vigorous battle. This time the state buries the anonymous poor people” (Baziotopoulou-Valavani, 200)
/28

While Baziotopoulou-Valavani interprets the jumbled bodies as “impious” I disagree

In a plague situation, even the seemingly small “tokens” to include burial goods, rebury disturbed skeletons, and care for the dead signifies a real effort and real care
/29

The hour-by-hour updates on our current pandemic are all-too-similar to Thucydides

We can use the same remote-sensing methods used to identify ancient tombs from space (e.g., the work of @indyfromspace) to see our own mass burials: space.com/iran-coronavir…
/30

While mass graves are a scary situation, remember that like the Athenians in the past, we are resilient (and better informed and equipped)

We have modern technology to both help with the disease and to live-stream funerals of our loved ones
/31

The simple act of Athenians caring for their loved ones in crisis is one that survives to us today

So, make sure you continue to show your love

If history teaches us anything, it’s that we’ll make it through this without breaking our humanity #StayHome #MenoumeSpiti
/32

Thanks for reading along

This is probably the last of my threads on the Athenian plague. But, I'm hoping to write some on ancient Greek health care

In the meantime, check out my thread on Neandertal burial. I wrote it in honor of my (still-missed) dad

https://twitter.com/FlintDibble/status/1138102486420676608