Ancient mound in Greece fuels heady speculation

Scientific Minds Want To Know - Greek Edition

Greece's Culture Ministry has warned against "overbold" speculation that an ancient artificial mound being excavated could contain a royal Macedonian grave or even Alexander the Great.

Aerial view of the burial mound [Credit: Αλέκος Παπαδόπουλος]

Site archaeologist Aikaterini Peristeri has voiced hopes of finding "a significant individual or individuals" within.

Section of the 500n. retainer wall surrounding
the mound [Credit:To Vima]

Greek websites enthused that it could hold the long-sought grave of 4th-century B.C. warrior-king Alexander the Great - thought to lie in Egypt.

Detail of the 500n. retainer wall surrounding
the mound [Credit: To Vima]

A Culture Ministry statement Thursday said the partly-excavated mound has yielded a "very remarkable" marble-faced wall from the late 4th century B.C. It is an impressive 500 meters (yards) long and three meters high.

The Lion of Amphipolis is thought to have once stood on top
of the mound [Credit: WikiCommons]

But the ministry warned it would be "overbold" to link the site near ancient Amphipolis, 370 miles (600 kilometers) north of Athens, with "historic personages" before the excavation is completed.