Catalan archaeologists discover ancient Greek jug from first houses in Empúries 

A group of Catalan archaeologists have found in the ancient Greek ruins of Empúries a small jug with scenes of a gym that served as an offering in one of the first houses in this site on the Costa Brava. 

The piece dates back to the 6th century B.C. and represents a palestra, the place where young people trained.  

During the excavations, other jugs were found that served as offerings, but Pere Castanyer, an archaeologist involved in the excavations, emphasized that "this explains one of the practices followed by the first Greeks of Empúrias when building their houses." 

Castanyer pointed out that these customs have also lasted to the present day.  

The contemporary parallel would be burying a newspaper of the day or modern-day coins when the first brick in the construction of a new house is laid.  

"This is nothing other than what these Greeks already did more than 2,500 years ago when they founded the city," Castanyer said.