Which archaeologist found many Persian bronze arrowheads on Kolonos Hill in 1939?

The archaeologist who found many Persian bronze arrowheads on Kolonos Hill in 1939 was Spyridon Marinatos. His discovery helped identify the hill as the location of the Greeks’ final stand at Thermopylae.

Kolonos Hill lies near the ancient pass in central Greece. The arrowheads were important archaeological evidence because Herodotus described the surviving defenders being overwhelmed by Persian missiles after the Greeks were surrounded.

Marinatos’s excavation also challenged an earlier identification of the battlefield. The concentration of Persian arrows supported the conclusion that the final defenders had been trapped and attacked from several directions on the hill.

The discovery is especially significant because much of the ancient landscape has changed through sediment deposition. The modern shoreline and ground level differ greatly from those of 480 BCE, making archaeological evidence essential for locating the battle accurately.