Soldier of misfortune.Soldier of misfortune The remains of Sardis, a city established in the 7th century B.C. as the capital of Lydia in what is now Turkey, include colossal co·los·sal adj. Of a size, extent, or degree that elicits awe or taxes belief; immense. See Synonyms at enormous. [French, from Latin colossus, colossus; see colossus. defensive wall that Persian invaders partially destroyed around 547 B.C. (SN: 11/22/86, p. 328). Within the wall's debris, investigators have now uncovered the skeleton of a man in his early 20s, apparently a soldier, lying near a military helmet made of iron and trimmed with bronze. Bone development in the arms suggests the man regularly carried a heavy shield and weapons, reports Sardis field director Crawford H. Greenewalt Jr. of the University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. Commonly referred to as UC Berkeley, Berkeley and Cal . The skeleton's left forearm forearm /fore·arm/ (for´ahrm) antebrachium; the part of the arm between elbow and wrist. fore·arm n. The part of the arm between the wrist and the elbow. -- broken just before death -- is raised in a gesture of self-defense; the right hand still grips a small stone. "This man may have been a stone thrower for the Lydian army," Greenewalt suggests. The helmet is a prototype of later Roman and medieval helmets, he contends. Hanging from its skullpiece are the remains of two rectangular neck guards made of goat leather. The sacking sack·ing n. A coarse, stout woven cloth, such as burlap or gunny, used for making sacks; sackcloth. sacking Noun coarse cloth woven from flax, hemp, or jute, and used to make sacks Noun of Sardis in the mid-6th century B.C. buried and preserved a legion of ancient Lydian artifacts artifacts see specimen artifacts. . "Sardis is an archaeologist's dream," Greenewalt says. |
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