Latest on the newly discovered "Alexander The Great-era" tomb near Amphipolis

[Dave Beatty]

http://news.yahoo.com/fever-mounts-stunning-statues-found-ancient-greek-tomb-195417400.html

This is going to be fun to watch. 

[Patrick Waterson]

At a guess, they are going to be really excited when they discover something pertaining to 'Alexandros' in the tomb, to be followed by disappointment when it turns out to belong to his son, Alexander IV ...

[rodge]

These two sites are updated on the progress/discoveries in the tomb as things emerge:
http://www.theamphipolistomb.com/
http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014/09/15/amphipolis-tomb-timeline-what-we-know-until-now-ancient-greek-monument-updates/

2 Caryatids have been found and a new door.....

[Imperial Dave]

thanks for the links Rodge, this discovery is really quite exciting and right up my street so to speak. I have a mate who has just moved back not a hundred million miles away from the site......I can feel a road trip coming on next year

[valentinianvictor]

Is there likely to be anything left in the tomb? Its pretty evident that the damage caused to the caryatids , winged sphinxes etc are as a result of human intervention.

[Duncan Head]

Is there likely to be anything left in the tomb? Its pretty evident that the damage caused to the caryatids , winged sphinxes etc are as a result of human intervention.

Well, "The Tomb is sealed. This is very important because it means that it has great value and they were afraid that it may be despoiled. Even the ones that opened the upper blocks of the Gate, they couldn't go far" says http://www.theamphipolistomb.com/the-tomb.

And at http://www.theamphipolistomb.com/caryatids:

Faye J. Vasiliadis · Harvard University

No. The tomb has not been looted. Parts of the eastern Caryatid's face were found and her face will be restored. The room directly behind the Caryatids was filled with untouched soil -sand from Strymon River- which was placed by the tomb's constructor -as confirmed by the Ministry of Culture. This soil -I repeat- was UNtouched and filled the entire room up to 70cm from the domed ceiling. It didnt fall from the ceiling... it was placed there deliberately to prevent tomb raiders and robbers. Rumor has it that the first or main room is 25 stairs beneath the current floor level.

So it looks as if no tomb-robbers or vandals had got past the caryatids. Of course that doesn't rule out someone tunneling in through the roof or whatever.

[valentinianvictor]

Thanks Duncan, this means this could be a major story once they finally clear all the debris out.

[Dangun]

My wife has been bugging me about going to Greece.
In a few years time, this will be an excellent reason to agree.

[Dangun]

Thanks Duncan, this means this could be a major story once they finally clear all the debris out.

Does anybody know the significance of the refilled dirt?

My limited knowledge of teh subject suggests that infilled tombs are unusual.
If the refilling with dirt was meant to preserve the tomb for later use, does the dirt suggest the tomb will be empty?

[Patrick Waterson]

Does anybody know the significance of the refilled dirt?

Not I.  The current conjecture seems to be that it was deliberately introduced as a deterrent to tomb robbers, but only full excavation will show whether this is just wishful thinking.  Egyptians seem to have made occasional use of 'sand rooms' as a barrier to would-be plunderers, and an analogy has presumably been drawn.

It would be very unlikely and extremely unusual for plunderers to fill a tomb with dirt after they had absconded with the contents.  Hence the assumption is that the dirt was put in as a blockage/deterrent and its continued presence suggests that whatever lies behind is untouched by human hands - other than those which placed the contents.

[Erpingham]

Tomb robbers are unlikely to have brought in special sand to backfill, so this entrance is presumably unbreached.  However, tomb robbers didn't necessarily go in by the front door.

[Patrick Waterson]

History provides two basic approaches to tomb robbery: the optimists who try to get in at the entrance, and the realists who try to dig in from the roof/sides.  Several Egyptian tombs have traces of tunnels dug by tomb robbers looking for the jackpot, and the authorities of the Theban necropolis were frequently kept busy sentencing captured robbers and would-be robbers to various not-too-pleasant fates.

On the whole, tomb robbery while the culture that created the tomb was still ruling was not very successful.  A prolonged breakdown of civil order and/or an alien invasion (I mean by humans of a different culture) was more likely to produce a rush for the 'buried treasure'.

A case in point was 19th century Etruria.  The country was infested by bandits and before the Risorgimento brought Italy together as a nation, Tuscany seemed to be something of a no-man's-land (it was officially the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, ruled from Florence, but after 1797 law and order were a bit thin on the ground) and searching for, discovering and plundering Etruscan tombs seemed to constitute the principal pastime of the locals.  On the bright side, it is surprising how many of these tombs from 500-300 BC survived untouched until the 19th century.

One point in favour of Macedonian tombs also surviving centuries or even millennia of potential plunderers is that we already have one which managed to do exactly that: Philip II's tomb at Vergina.  This is a strong reason why everyone is crossing their fingers and hoping.

[Duncan Head]

And the latest seems to be that they've found a mosaic -

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/oct/13/vast-mosaic-uncovered-in-northern-greece-depicts-hermes-leading-chariot
http://www.theamphipolistomb.com/news/23

[Patrick Waterson]

And now a skeleton in a wooden coffin.

[Imperial Dave]

Ooooh you beat me to it...was just reading that

So, now we have a skeleton.......who could it be and what's your money on?