A Ketos in Early Athens: An Archaeology of Whales and Sea Monsters in the Greek World

Abstract

This article publishes a fragment of a scapula of a fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) found in an Early Geometric well in the area of the later Athenian Agora. Deriving from the carcass of an immature beached whale, the bone was brought to Athens and was used probably as a cutting surface, before being discarded ca. 850 B.C. The context of this extraordinary artifact is analyzed and discussed, as are its possible functions. The occurrence of whales in the Aegean and Mediterranean is reviewed, so too the use of whales and whalebones in ancient Greece and in other cultures. Although the incidence of whalebone is rare in archaeological contexts in the Aegean, Classical literature is full of references to both fantastic sea monsters and real whales. The words that the Greeks and Romans used for whales and the language of whales in mythology and natural history reveal a rich and varied tradition. There is a similarly rich and long tradition of iconographic representations in ancient art, particularly of fabulous sea monsters, one that extends from Aegean prehistory into the Classical era and well beyond. The Agora whalebone provides a unique insight into the archaeology of whales and sea monsters in Greek literature, natural history, art, and material culture.