Middle Bronze Age Gold Jewelry Unearthed at Kolona on Aegina
A cluster of gold ornaments has surfaced at Kolona, the long-occupied archaeological site on the Greek island of Aegina, offering a rare glimpse into the island’s Bronze Age past. The discovery was made inside a large stone building near a defensive wall associated with the settlement’s expansion, just beyond what archaeologists consider the site’s inner core.
According to the Greek Ministry of Culture, the excavation was active throughout last year, and the jewelry hoard stood out as one of the season’s most significant finds. The objects include disc-shaped pendants, some double-sided and others with biconical elements, along with fine gold plaques and carnelian beads. Archaeologists believe the pieces may have formed a single item of jewelry, most likely a necklace or pendant.
The material has drawn attention because some of the gold resembles objects associated with the Aegina Treasure, a Minoan gold hoard reportedly found on the island and now in the British Museum, where it has been since 1892. That comparison places the new discovery within a broader network of Aegean metalwork and elite adornment in the second millennium BC.
Kolona is not a single-period site but a palimpsest of settlement and ritual. Its best-known ruin, a temple of Apollo dating to the 6th century BC, is only one layer in a history that extends into the Byzantine era. The latest excavation is overseen by Alexander Sokolicek of the University of Salzburg, working with the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Athens under the auspices of Greek heritage authorities.
For Aegina, the find adds another material trace to a site already dense with historical memory — and suggests that even familiar ruins can still yield objects that sharpen the picture of ancient life, trade, and display.
