Medium: The rock that could change history
UC's Griffin Warrior discovery included a sealstone considered a masterpiece of Bronze Age
Medium writer Andrei Tapalaga wrote about the University of Cincinnati's 2015 discovery of a Bronze Age tomb in Greece that contained priceless artworks, including a tiny sealstone with an engraving capturing an epic battle.
UC Classics department head Jack Davis and UC senior research associate Sharon Stocker discovered the tomb of what they call the Griffin Warrior, a man the two researchers suspect was both a warrior and religious leader whose armor was emblazoned with a mythic Griffin.
Among the artifacts married couple Stocker and Davis discovered was a tiny sealstone just 3.6 centimeters long capturing a moment frozen in time of two soldiers locked in mortal combat: one wielding a sword, the other a spear, while a third soldier lies slain on the ground.
Archaeology Magazine declared the find "a Bronze Age masterpiece."
Medium's Tapalaga did not disagree.
"In an ongoing discussion of prehistoric objects that could change or even deny many history books, I think that this one takes it all," he wrote.
UC unravels world of Griffin Warrior
UC senior research associate Sharon Stocker leads the excavation of the Griffin Warrior at Pylos, Greece. Photo/UC Classics
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