Whether we like it or not, an archeological study does not run at the same rate of day-to-day life of our times. The archeological efforts need patience, persistence, attention and constant preparation. At the imposing monument of Amphipolis, which has justifiably generated interest in Greece and internationally, it is clear that the excavation cannot succumb to the need for information that we are used to; to learn in real time what the archeologists are seeing. They cannot, however, cut off all streams of communication, like it was easily done in the past – and how some insist – when scientists could work undistracted for months and years, only for us to learn the results when the studies were almost complete.
The limited announcements of those in charge of the excavation and relevant services may be intriguing, but they cannot and must not lead to useless and above all outdated conflicts of experts and others over what may be hidden in the tomb of Amphipolis. This tendency of public quarrels over serious and less serious matter, which often prevails in our country, must not occur in the case of Amphipolis. As the excavation continues, the archeologists and other experts have all the time ahead of them to evaluate, interpret and inform the eager public on their findings.
After all, we have the privilege of being a country where our path in history is more or less revealed through the incredible riches hidden within. Hopefully the interest over the unprecedented monument in Amphipolis will urge us and everyone else to discover the incredible arts of the ancient world that is already kept in the museums, but which we rarely visit.
TO VIMA
