The 2,000-year-old graves of a mother and child were found during excavations of Parion, the port city of the Roman Empire located near Kemer village in western Çanakkale province’s Biga district.
Professor Vedat Keleş of Ondokuz Mayız University's Archaeology Department and the head of the excavations in Parion said that they determined one of the graves belonged to a woman and the other belonged to a child between 9 and 11 months old.
The excavations started in 2005 in the 2,700-year-old port city. With the permission of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums and the support of the Turkish Historical Society, this year's excavations started in April.
Highlighting that the excavations are focused on the four different sections, Keleş said: "The first is the Roman bath, the second is the theater, the agora and the shops while our work continues in the southern necropolis. So far, we have inventoried 100 items and conducted nearly 1,000 studies. The artifacts will be handed over to the Troy Museum at the end of the process."
"We are starting to understand the importance of Parion for the region, especially during the Roman period because it had two ports with rich hinterland and played a very active role as one of the most important waterways of the ancient times," he added.
Stating that the southern necropolis of the city was used from the sixth century B.C. to the fourth century, Keleş said: "Nearly 25 graves have been opened so far during this year's work. These two graves are quite important as they are cremation tombs. Also, various terracotta pots, tear bottles and two rattles have been found in the tombs. Next to them, there are Eros figures showing that it is an abundant tomb. These graves are very important for us as they provide new data about the burial customs."
"For the first time, we encountered brick tombs here. Therefore, it is an extremely important site. We also collected some coins that had been placed on the mouth of the dead or on the side of their hands and knees as a toll to Charon," he added.
In Greek mythology, Charon, the son of Erebus and Nyx, had the duty of ferrying the souls of the deceased over the Rivers Styx and Acheron.
