At the start of Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, Athenians began an annual tradition of burying their war dead in a state ceremony. In the first year of the event (431 BC), Greek statesman and general Pericles spoke of democracy at Kerameikos. The Pericles Funeral Oration was one of the most famous speeches from antiquities. Concurrently, hundreds who died from a plague were buried here from 430 until 426 BC. So, the necropolis was etched in Athens’ history. Since excavations began in the 1860s, hundreds of graves have been uncovered, along with artifacts and elaborate grave markers. This one from 325-310 BC. honored the burial site of two sisters, Demetria and Pamphile.
