A marble statue of a woman believed to be more than 2,000 years old was found abandoned in a garbage bag near Greek city from Thessaloniki, the police announced on Wednesday.
A resident discovered the 80-centimeter (31-inch) headless statue next to a garbage can in Neoi Epivates, outside Greece’s second-largest city. The man handed it over to local authorities, who contacted archaeologists to assess its importance.
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Police said that after an initial assessment, experts determined that the piece dates from the Hellenistic era, a period between about 320 and 30 BC that was marked by a flourishing of art and culture after the conquest Alexander the Great.
This undated photo provided by Greek police and released Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 shows a marble statue of a woman believed to be more than 2,000 years old that was found abandoned in a garbage bag in the northern city of Thessaloniki, Greece . (Greek police via AP)
The statue was sent to archaeologists for further examination. Finally, it will be handed over to the local antiquities administration for safekeeping and study.
Police launched an investigation to determine who threw the statue away and briefly detained a man for questioning who was later released without charge.
Accidental archaeological discoveries are relatively common in Greece, a country known for its ancient heritage, often occurring during the construction of buildings or public works. In December, workers installing natural gas pipelines near Athens discovered a A statue of Hermes from the Roman era buried upright in a brick-lined pit near the Acropolis.
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A few weeks ago, Thessaloniki unveiled a treasure trove of antiquities found during the decades-long construction of its metro system, which officially opened in November. Key finds, including a marble-paved Roman street and tens of thousands of artefacts from the Greek, Byzantine and Ottoman periods, are now on display in the subway stations.
