September 27, 2014. Copyright, 2014, Graphic News. All rights reserved. The unveiling of the tomb at Amphipolis is only just beginning. By Fiona Roberts, Graphic News

In August, 2014, a team of archaeologists led by Katerina Peristeri announced that they had discovered the entrance to an ancient Greek tomb at Amphipolis in Northern Greece, some 600 kilometres (370 miles) north of Athens. The tomb appears to date from the time of Alexander the Great (325-300BC), and although partially destroyed during the Roman occupation of Greece, it appears to have survived without further looting. It is believed to be part of the largest burial site ever discovered in Greece.

The excavations of the tumulus (burial mound) at Kasta Hill previously revealed a circular wall some 500 metres (550 yards) in circumference and 3 metres (10 feet) high, with a cornice of marble from the Aegean Island of Thassos. 

A marble statue of a lion, 4.9-metres (16-feet) tall, is believed to have crowned the mound. It was found in 1912 a few miles away in the bed of the Strymonas River. Following restoration it has been erected close to where it was discovered. 

The tomb is unlikely to be that of Alexander the Great as he died in Babylon (modern-day Iraq) and although the exact location of his tomb is not known it is believed to be somewhere in Egypt as his corpse was stolen by Ptolomy, one of his former generals, when on route home. Although the lion might point to the massive grave belonging to one of Alexander's generals, the two caryatids (sculptured female figures serving as pillars guarding the entrance to the second chamber) suggest the tomb might be that of a woman, possibly Olympias, Alexander's mother.

As the excavations continue, it is hoped that further discoveries will shed light on the purpose of the Amphipolis site.

/ENDS