Kolona, Aigina - 2025

Lydia Berger  and Alexander Sokolicek (University of Salzburg) report on the 2025 excavation at the site of Kolona in Aigina. 

During the opening of a trench inside a large stone-built structure located immediately outside and adjacent to the remains of the fortification wall that protected the extension of the Middle Bronze Age settlement (the so-called “inner suburb”), eight gold bi-conical disc-shaped pendants were found, along with one gold disc-shaped pendant, seven gold bi-conical beads, one gold cylindrical bead, eight decorative gold-sheet appliqués, and seven spherical carnelian beads (Fig. 1). All of these objects probably belonged to a gold necklace or suspended ornament, dated to the first half of the second millennium BCE, and are preserved in excellent condition. In addition, twelve copper fragments (possibly from small knives) and one needle/pin were also found. The gold ornaments, especially the pendants, show similarities to certain pieces from the so-called “Aegina Treasure” of prehistoric times — a collection of jewelry made from precious and semi-precious stones discovered on Aegina, illegally exported, and housed in the British Museum since 1892.

Although the stratigraphy of the excavation context in which they were found had been disturbed at some unknown period, it is reasonable to assume that the jewelry constituted grave goods, probably associated with a Middle Bronze Age burial, even though there is no evidence of a tomb.