Continuing excavations at the eponymous Minoan Bronze Age settlement of Akrotiri, on the volcanic holiday island of Santorini (ancient Thira), have yielded 13 sarcophagi filled with artifacts from the Aegean archipelago's pre-Classical Cycladic civilization.
Some of the discovered sarcophagi are dated as far back as 3,000 BC.
Additionally, one of the most impressive wall murals recently discovered includes thousands of pieces of plaster fragments.
The painstaking excavation works, which had stopped a few years ago due to financial belt-tightening, resumed after a grant by Kaspersky Lab, allowing archaeologists to return to the site with accompanying specialized work crews.
The latest discoveries were displayed during a presentation on the island, with Eugene Kaspersky, the founder of Kaspersky Lab, also on hand. Kaspersky also toured the Akrotiri site.
"We're very happy to see such great progress, with the financial support of Kaspersky Lab. The current work of this team is only just a small part of the scientific initiatives taking place on Akrotiri. Our future plans include an expansion of the mural preservation lab, in order to achieve the best possible protection of the ruins.. We're aiming to make it easier for visitors to understand the cultural significance of Akrotiri," according to Prof. Christos Doumas, the head of excavations at the site.
For his contributions to the iconic island's cultural heritage and history, Kaspersky was declared an honorary citizen of Santorini by mayor Anastasios-Nikolaos Zorzos.
