The earliest evidence of large animal fossil collecting in mainland Greece at Bronze Age Mycenae.

ABSTRACT: Fossils of large animals have long influenced social practices and ideologies in human societies, including the fantastic myths of giants, heroes, and gods in ancient Greece. It has been estimated that purposeful fossil collecting in Greece began in the Late Bronze Age. However, previous archaeological finds of fossils from mainland Greece were not well documented in secure contexts that dated this far back in time. Herein, we present a newly recognized fossilized astragalus bone recently found in the legacy collections of the archaeological site of Mycenae. It was originally recovered by excavations in the 1970s and recently reanalyzed at the Mycenae Museum. Our analysis explored the available evidence of the find location, the state of fossil preservation, and the species represented. Th

SUBMITTER: Meier JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11333489 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature