View source for Perserschutt

{{Italic title}}
{{Short description|Ancient fosse in the Acropolis of Athens}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=July 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
[[Image:Perserschutt.gif|thumb|right|The {{Lang|de|Perserschutt}} photographed in 1866, just after the first excavation was completed. The famous [[Kritios Boy]] appears on the right.]]
The '''{{Lang|de|Perserschutt}}''' ({{Literal translation|Persian rubble|Persian debris}}), as it is called in the [[German language]], is the collection of ancient votive and architectural sculptures that belonged to the [[Acropolis of Athens]] before being destroyed during the [[second Persian invasion of Greece]], which took place between 480 and 479 BCE. After defeating the [[Achaemenid Empire]], the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] cleared and buried what was left of the Acropolis following the [[Achaemenid destruction of Athens|Persian destruction of Athens]] and subsequently rebuilt the city. A team of French, German, and Greek archaeologists discovered and excavated what would become known as the {{Lang|de|Perserschutt}} in the 19th century, and a number of the collection's artifacts are on display at the [[Acropolis Museum]].

==History==
[[File:Acropolis excavation pit where remains of Archaic statues were found.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Acropolis of Athens|Acropolis]] excavation pit, where some remains of [[Archaic Greek Sculpture|Archaic statues]] were found, just northwest of the [[Erechtheion]].]]

=== Greco-Persian Wars ===
The residents of [[Classical Athens|Athens]] had been evacuated, and did not return until the Greek coalition routed the Persian army from the city. During the year-long Persian occupation, the Athenian city-state was sacked; [[Ancient Greek temple|Greek temples]] and other structures of significance were looted, vandalized, or razed to the ground. The desecrated items were buried ceremoniously by the Athenians after the [[Achaemenid Empire]] was expelled from their city. Later, the top of their Acropolis was cleared and their temples were rebuilt, with new works of sculpture having been created to be dedicated for the new temples.

=== Excavations at the Acropolis ===
Due to the burial, the artifacts' remains were preserved for more than 2000 years. They were first excavated by the French archaeologist [[Charles Ernest Beulé]] between 1863 and 1866. The remainder was discovered by Greek archaeologist [[Panagiotis Kavvadias]] and German architects [[Wilhelm Dörpfeld]] and [[Georg Kawerau]] between 1885 and 1890. The collection includes the [[Kritios Boy]], the [[Moschophoros|Calf Bearer]], and the [[Angelitos Athena]], among others.{{Efn|Details of the excavations were published in 1906. See references: Kavvadias, P., Kawerau, G.}}

==Remains from the ''Perserschutt''==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="160">
File:ACMA 681 Kore Antenor 1.JPG|The [[Antenor Kore]]
File:The Euthydikos Kore (detail).jpg|The [[Euthydikos Kore]] (detail)
File:Grecia Arcaica kouros 7 Moscoforo jpg.jpg|The [[Moscophoros]]
File:002MA Friso.jpg|Part of the damaged [[Hekatompedon temple|Hekatompedon pediment]] ([[Three-Bodied Daemon (ACMA 35)|Three-bodied daemon]])
File:ACMA 679 Kore 2.JPG|The [[Peplos Kore]]
File:009MA Kritios.jpg|The [[Kritios Boy]]
File:Kouros' Head to horse, Acropolis' museum, Athens.jpg|The [[Rampin Rider]]
File:Chariot and Hoplites (3417114575).jpg|Chariot and hoplites, built into the [[Themistoclean Wall]]
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Commons Category|Perserschutt}}
* [[Acropolis of Athens#Archaic Acropolis|Archaic Acropolis]]
* [[Korai of the Acropolis of Athens]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
* [[Panagiotis Kavvadias]], [[Georg Kawerau]]: ''Die Ausgrabung der Akropolis vom Jahre 1885 bis zum Jahre 1890'', Athens, 1906
* Jens Andreas Bundgaard: ''The Excavation of the Athenian Acropolis 1882—1990. The Original Drawings edited from the papers of Georg Kawerau'', Copenhagen, 1974
* Astrid Lindenlauf: ''Der Perserschutt auf der Athener Akropolis'' ([[Wolfram Hoepfner]]: ''Kult und Kultbauten auf der Akropolis'', International Symposium, 7–9 July 1995, Berlin) Berlin, 1997, pp.&nbsp;45–115
* Martin Steskal: ''Der Zerstörungsbefund 480/79 der Athener Akropolis. Eine Fallstudie zum etablierten Chronologiegerüst'', Antiquitates – Archäologische Forschungsergebnisse, Bd. 30. Verlag Dr. Kovač, Hamburg, 2004, {{ISBN|978-3-8300-1385-3}}

{{Acropolis of Athens}}
[[Category:5th-century BC Greek sculptures]]
[[Category:1863 archaeological discoveries]]
[[Category:1880s archaeological discoveries]]
[[Category:1890s archaeological discoveries]]
[[Category:Acropolis of Athens]]
[[Category:Archaeological discoveries in Attica]]
[[Category:Greco-Persian Wars]]
[[Category:Archaic Greek art]]