50 ancient tombs uncovered
From correspondents in Athens
July 18, 2004
ARCHEOLOGISTS have discovered 50 tombs dating back to the late Minoan period, around 1400 BC, and containing a number of artifacts on the Greek island of Crete, ANA news agency reported today.
The tombs were part of the once powerful ancient city of Kydonia, which was destroyed at the time but later rebuilt.
The oldest among them contained bronze weapons, jewellery and vases and are similar to the tombs of fallen soldiers of the Mycenaean type from mainland Greece, said the head of the excavations, Maria Vlazaki.
The more recent family tombs are of a more traditional Kydonia type.
Earlier excavations in the area in northwest Crete near the town of Chania had already yielded some 100 burial sites.
