Mystery Solved

Ancient chicken bones and snail shells date the destruction of a Greek city

Researchers could even determine the season when the siege began.

Updated: 
Originally Published: 
Beige shells on a black background
© German-Israeli Tell Iẓṭabba Excavation Project

Pablo Jeffs Munizaga - Fototrekking/Moment/Getty Images

As winter turned to spring in the year 107 BC, residents of the Greek town of Tell Iztabba were plunged into a season of destruction.

The town was destroyed that year by the ancient Hasmoneans, who clashed with the Hellenistic (Greek) Seleucid empire during the second century BC.

Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
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