Myrtis' journey

The study of skeletal material from the ancient cemetery of Kerameikos is part of a bigger research program in the University of Athens for the study of the craniofacial complex, into which, as an orthodontist, I am involved for many years now.

The eleven-year-old Myrtis was one of the thousands of anonymous victims of the horrible plague that struck Athens in the first years of the Peloponnesian War. Her body was thrown hastily into a rough grave that the authorities opened on one edge of the ancient cemetery of Kerameikos, in order to bury the scores of people that lay dead in the streets of the city. Myrtis’ skull was found among the bones of many more men, women and children, victims of the plague.

Her skull had been preserved in excellent condition and that was a spur to its remolding, so that we could come today face to face with the past.

Her journey into time started on the 22nd May, 2006, when the research work “DNA examination of ancient dental pulp incriminates typhoid fever as the possible cause of the Plague of Athens.”, was announced to the academic community in the Great Hall of the University of Athens.

Since then she is travelling…

Next destination

Stop-overs:

December 14, 2013: Archaeological Museum of Karditsa

November 11, 2012: Archaeological Museum of Ioannina

June 24, 2012: Archaeological Museum of Delphi

January 20, 2012: PΙΟP, Museum of the Olive and Greek Olive Oil in Sparta

October 22, 2011: PIOP, Archaeological Museum of Volos

October 14, 2011: PIOP, Rooftile and Brickworks Museum N. & S. Tsalapatas

June 17, 2011: PIOP, Museum of Marble Crafts of Tinos

March 22, 2011: Muzeji i galerije Podgorice (Montenegrin)

January 14, 2011: Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki