Amphipolis (Grèce): The ‘Resident’ of the Tomb

Aggelos Skordas

Source - http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014/11/15/the-resident-of-the-amphipolis-tomb/?

A man of medium height, white skin, and brown or red hair: This is how the infamous and long awaited “resident” of the Amphipolis Tomb looked like, according to the scientists’ estimations, based on the facts regarding the Greeks of his time (4th century BC).

As expected, a further and detailed analysis of the skeleton found under the ground surface of the third chamber, 1.6 meters deeper, will give further answers regarding his identity, although what the specialists assume, based on his features, is that the man originated from Thrace region, in northeastern Greece.

“According to archaeologists’ scenarios regarding the period and the area in which the man, whose skeleton was found in Amphipolis Burial Monument, lived, these would be his basic features,” said to Greek newspaper “Ta Nea,” Professor of the Dentistry School of the University of Athens Manolis Papagrigorakis.

In the same report, paleoanthropologist of the Tubingen University in Germany Katerina Charvati underlined that “by the examination of his bones and depending on the skeleton’s state, one can define various elements over his health, while he was alive, as well as his diet.”

Greek Archaeologist Katerina Peristeri, head of the Amphipolis Tomb excavation, estimates that the dead man was a dignitary general. What would archaeologists discover if grave robbers have not entered his tomb first? “Thanks to the elements we got from other Macedonian graves, in which there was no human intervention after the burial, we can assume that we would have found armaments (shield, sword, chest armor, helmet, shin guards and other items), ceremonial containers made of gold or copper, chaplet and probably earthenware pottery,” explained professor of Classical Archaeology of the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Greece, Chrysoula Paliadeli.