A team of archeologists has unearthed the remains of an ancient human that they believe may have served as an offering to Zeus, the Greek god of thunder and the sky.
Behind the bones is a story that may prove whether a dark legend in ancient Greece was based on historical accounts or is actually just an urban legend.
The Story Behind Mount Lykaion
The many tales and legends left behind by ancient Greeks still reach us even after thousands of years. One of those tales is a gruesome event that revolves around Mount Lykaion in Arcadia, Greece.
According to mythology, the mountain was a witness to an ancient trickery by the Arcadian king named Lycaon. Because Lycaon wanted to test whether Zeus was truly omniscient, he served the god of thunder the flesh of his own son, Nyctimus.
As a punishment for this horrifying act, Zeus transformed Lycaon and his offspring into wolves, and brought Nyctimus back to life, the myth goes.
Ancient writers wrote that because of what happened, a tradition was born: the fire pit altar at the top of Mount Lykaion received not only livestock as an offering from ancient Greeks, but human sacrifice as well.
The populace would sometimes sacrifice a human boy, which, in Zeus' honor, would be eaten. What's more, whoever ate the human flesh would supposedly turn into a wolf for nine years.
If they did not consume human flesh during that time, they would return to their human form. But if they ate human flesh, they would become a wolf forever, according to Smithsonian.
Evidence Of Human Sacrifice?
The ash altar on Mount Lykaion is considered as the earliest known site of worship for Zeus, and has been under excavation since 2006. No clues of human remains have been discovered at the site, until this summer.
In a new study, researchers report that they have excavated a 3,000-year-old skeleton of a young man who may have been sacrificed to Zeus as an offering.
According to The Guardian, the human remains were discovered deep in the ash pit and were laid in an east-west direction. The skeleton had two lines of stones along the sides and other slabs on the pelvis. Part of its upper skull was missing.
Skepticism On The Findings
However, the findings of the study still have to be taken with a grain of salt as they have not been published in a peer-reviewed journal yet.
Jan Bremmer of the University of Groningen who was not involved in the research says he is skeptical that the skeleton was part of a human sacrifice. He says the notion that the ancient Greeks conducted human sacrifices contradicts widely held beliefs about their society.
For instance, ancient Greece is considered as the birthplace of rational thinking, philosophy and democracy.
"[O]n the other hand we have these cruel, cruel myths," says Bremmer.
Still, Ioannis Mylonopoulos, another expert who wasn't involved in the research, believes the team's findings could hold something special.
If the preliminary date of the remains' burial is accurate — estimated to be 11th century B.C. — then the findings may be extremely significant, he says.
Meanwhile, study researchers will continue to study the remains and Mount Lykaion to search for clues. As of writing, more than 90 percent of the fire pit altar is still unaccounted for.
Professor David Gilman Romano, one of the excavators in the study, says they have many years of excavation to go.
"We don't know if we are going to find more human burials or not," adds Romano.
