Bones in Ancient Tomb May Solve Greece Mystery

Archaeologists in Greece have made their biggest find yet inside an ancient tomb that goes back to the days of Alexander the Great: bones. The discovery at the site near what was once Amphipolis could finally answer the question of who was buried there in the 4th century BC, reports the AP. So far, only this much is clear: It was somebody important. "It is an extremely expensive construction, one that no single private citizen could have funded," says a statement from the nation's culture ministry, reports the BBC. "It is in all probability a monument to a mortal who was worshiped by his society at the time."

Might it be the big man himself, Alexander? The short answer is probably not. LiveScience notes that the culture ministry chief has called the possibility highly unlikely, though he later clarified that because nobody knows where Alexander is buried, he wasn't definitively ruling it out. Pending tests on the bones should at least determine the age and gender of the deceased. The body had been placed in a wooden coffin that had long since rotted away, and it was clear that looters had plundered the tomb previously. (In August, archaeologists found a missing sphinx head inside the tomb.)