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The show will profile the work of UC Classics Department Head Jack Davis and UC senior research associate Sharon Stocker in Pylos, Greece. The two researchers found the 3,500-year-old warrior-priest’s tomb that contained armor, weapons and priceless artwork that is helping historians better understand life in ancient Greece.

The Griffin Warrior was named for the mythological creature that adorned an ivory plaque in the tomb. The tomb is in the vicinity of the Palace of Nestor, which was unearthed with the help of the late UC Classics professor Carl Blegen in 1939. Nestor was a ruler mentioned by name in Homer’s epic poems “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey.”

Blegen had wanted to explore the olive groves in 1939 but could not get permission from the land owners at the time, so the startling discovery would wait nearly 80 years for another UC archaeology team.

Stocker and Davis in 2019 discovered two other Bronze Age tombs in the vicinity of the Palace of Nestor that likewise contained artifacts that are helping historians better understand the economy, rituals, beliefs and daily life in the Mediterranean 3,500 years ago.

The princely tombs likewise contained artwork emblazoned with mythological figures. An agate sealstone featured two lion-like creatures called genii standing upright and carrying a serving vase and incense burner, a tribute for an altar before them featuring a sprouting sapling between horns of consecration.

Researchers also found a gold ring with two bulls flanked by sheaves of grain, identified as barley by a paleobotanist who consulted on the project.