Soldier unearths 2,600-year-old burial site, Greek artifacts in Ukraine. See the finds
Soldiers building fortifications in southern Ukraine unearthed a burial site more than 2,600 years old.
While operating an excavator, a soldier noticed a small jug in the dirt and showed it to a fellow soldier with a passion for history, according to a March 16 Facebook post from the 123rd Territorial Defense Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The men brought the artifact to the Mykolayiv Regional Museum of Local History, according to officials.
Experts identified the jug as an amphora — a piece of pottery sometimes used in funeral rituals to hold offerings or human remains, or as a grave marker. This particular jug is believed to have originated in Corinth, a large city in ancient Greece.
Soldiers found a second artifact at the site, identified as an oinochoe vessel, a jug with one handle and three spouts used to pour wine during an ancient Greek social gathering for aristocratic men called a symposium, officials said.
Experts determined the dig site is an ancient burial ground dating back between 600 B.C. to 500 B.C., officials said.
One man, a former archaeologist and now soldier, said the people buried there were likely of high social status, according to the post.
The artifacts, as well as human bones, were given to a museum, officials said.
Mykolaiv is in southern Ukraine on the coast of the Black Sea. According to scholars, several groups, including some Greek city-states, settled in the region between 1,000 B.C. and 400 B.C.
Facebook Translate and Google Translate were used to translate a Facebook post from Ukraine’s 123rd Territorial Defense Brigade.
This story was originally published March 27, 2025 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Soldier unearths 2,600-year-old burial site, Greek artifacts in Ukraine. See the finds."
