Who Was the Man Buried 2400 Years Ago? An Extraordinary Grave Uncovered in Turkey

Near Aspendos in southern Turkey, archaeologists have uncovered a burial site where the person interred may have been a professional wrestler over 2,400 years ago.

A sarcophagus built with stone slabs was discovered in one of the cemeteries outside the city, containing the remains of the individual. According to Turkey's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the burial dates back to 475-300 BC.

Artifacts found in the grave, including silver coins depicting wrestlers, suggest the deceased may have had a sporting background, although archaeologists are not yet definitively claiming that he was indeed a wrestler. Historian Sara Bond of the University of Iowa, who did not participate in the excavation, noted that the coins alone are insufficient for such a conclusion, as the silver coins featuring two wrestlers circulated widely in Aspendos and were used by the general population.

To establish the individual’s sporting past, further examinations of the remains are needed, as typical injuries from wrestling, such as a broken nose and its subsequent healing, could provide more evidence.

Aspendos was a prominent Greco-Roman city in southwest modern-day Turkey, where wrestling held a significant place; silver coins depicting two wrestlers were common in the city. Later, in the 2nd century AD, a stadium capable of hosting around 8,000 spectators was built there, where competitions in running, javelin throwing, and wrestling were held.

Excavation work in the discovered cemetery continues.