Who Is Buried In the Largest Tomb Ever Found In Northern Greece?

schwit1 writes Excitement continues to build as archaeologists dig deeper into a massive tomb discovered two years ago in northern Greece. "This past weekend the excavation team, led by Greek archaeologist Katerina Peristeri, announced the discovery of two elegant caryatids—large marble columns sculpted in the shape of women with outstretched arms—that may have been intended to bar intruders from entering the tomb's main room. "I don't know of anything quite like them," says Philip Freeman, a professor of classics at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. The curly-haired caryatids are just part of the tomb's remarkable furnishings. Guarding the door as sentinels were a pair of carved stone sphinxes, mythological creatures with the body of a lion and the head of a human. And when archaeologists finally entered the antechamber, they discovered faded remnants of frescoes as well as a mosaic floor made of white marble pieces inlaid in a red background." Archaeologists believe this tomb is connected somehow to Alexander the Great and could very well be the burial site of one of his relatives or close allies.

Comments

Why the lack of photos??

[Anonymous Coward]

They could crowdfund this entire excavation if they would simply whet our appetites with a photo gallery or live feed of the dig. I realize digs are slow and tedious, but to see it as it unfolds would be amazing!

Re:Alexander

[dargaud]

A DNA test would only be relevant if the remains of another member of Alexander's familly was available for comparison. Ptolemy I may have been the half-brother of Alexander so the answer could be in some of the mummies of that dynasty.

There's actually a likely possibility that the cranium of Alexander's father, Phillip II of Macedonia, has been found some years ago in another tomb. Don't know about the state of DNA on it though.