Ancient Greek grave hints at rare human sacrifice  

ATHENS: A 3,000-year-old grave found on a Greek mountain could be evidence of a rare case of human sacrifice, a senior archaeologist said Wednesday.

The grave of a teen -- likely a male -- was found a few weeks ago atop Lykaio mountain in the Peloponnese peninsula by a Greek-American team excavating the area since 2004.

Anna Karapanagiotou, head of the local archaeological service, termed the find "unique".

"It seems that it will shed further light... on rituals of this early period," she told Athens municipal radio.

"Much later sources (700 years later) talk about human sacrifices taking place on Lykaio mountain. All this will be studied," Karapanagiotou said.

Lykaio mountain was considered sacred to the god Zeus and an altar for animal sacrifice was already in operation here from 1,600 BCE until centuries later, officials said.

The body in the grave, which is missing most of the skull except the lower jaw, had been buried in the middle of the altar in a cavity dug into the rock.

The 11th-century BCE dating could be significant in confirming a sacrificial killing, as this is the time when the Mycenean Bronze Age civilisation was collapsing to Dorian invaders using iron weaponry.