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

Who is buried

[Anonymous Coward]

Grant?

Re:Who is buried

[JaredOfEuropa]

A tomb is a "structurally enclosed burial chamber". Underground burial vaults or crypts are included in that category, as well as tombs cut out in rock. Merriam-Webster even lists it as "an excavation in which a corpse is buried".

Caryatide expert here

[MRe_nl]

Caryatide number two seems to have been hit in the face by a Rod of Smiting.

Re:Caryatide expert here

[invid]

DM: "You walk into an underground chamber. At the other end of the chamber is a large chest with a lock. On either side of the chest is a marble pillar carved into the shape of a woman. The woman on the left has a sword and the woman on the right has a battle ax."

Thief: "I take out my lock-pick and walk to the--"

Magic-User: "Don't move! Those statues are going to come to life!"

Thief: "What makes you think that? That sounds quite unlikely to me."

Magic-User: "You're new around here, aren't you?"

Re:When is too soon?

[Black Parrot]

How long do they have to be dead before we dig them up and take their stuff?

1 / expected value of loot to be found.

Re:When is too soon?

[martin-boundary]

There's no minimum time, just how long anybody is willing to protect the sanctity of the tomb. For example, if it's a king, then his subjects are probably willing to stop and prosecute anyone who's trying to open the tomb for a few generations after, probably until the kingdom gets destroyed even. If it's you, then you get dug up about 50 years after they bury you, so somebody else gets to putrefy in your cemetery spot.

Re:Where are the HD photos of the excavation site?

[Required Snark]

The big reveal images have already been negotiated with some major media outlet. Nat Geo, NBC, CBS, ABC, or BBC, and similar outfits in other languages.

Archeological research can get a boost from media coverage just like any other endeavor. Do you really expect that they're going to let the first bozo with a camera let all that hype potential go to waste? Expect press conferences and specials on TV. For example, this could be a great fundraiser for PBS.

Wake up, it's the 21st century. Publicity is golden, no one in their right mind lets an opportunity like this fizzle out.

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.

Re:When is too soon?

[AlecC]

The idea of regarding graves as automatically for ever is relatively recent.While the wealthy might have impressive, and supposedly permanent tombstones, in medieval times people would be buried only for a few years, and then the grave dug up, the bones transferred to an ossuary, and the grave reused for another person. hence the gravedigger scene in Hamlet - the digger is recycling Yorick's grave for another occupant. So I see no problem in digging up a grave site sufficiently old that we don't know who is buried in it. The question is, as with all archaeological digs, how much to dig up now and how much to leave for later, better equipped, archaeologists.

They're not caryatids!

[Chas]

They're Weeping Angels! Don't blink!