Who was buried with Nestor’s Cup? Macroscopic and microscopic analyses of the cremated remains from Tomb 168 (second half of the 8th century BCE, Pithekoussai, Ischia Island, Italy)

Cremation 168 from the second half of 8 th century BCE (Pithekoussai’s necropolis, Ischia Island, Italy), better known as Tomb Nestor’s Cup, is widely considered one most intriguing discoveries in Mediterranean Pre-Classic archaeology. A drinking cup, which Tomb’s name derives, bears earliest surviving examples written Greek, representing oldest Homeric poetry ever recovered. According to previous osteological analyses, Cup associated with cremated remains a juvenile, aged approximately 10–14 years at death. Since then, vast body literature has attempted explain unique association between exceptionality grave good complex, symposiac and erotic evocation inscription young age individual buried it. This paper reconsiders assessments by combining gross morphology qualitative histology histomorphometric analyses burnt bone fragments. work reveals commingled nature assemblage, identifying for first time, more than human mixed faunal remains. These outcomes dramatically change reconstructions cremation deposit, rewriting answer question: who was Cup?.