Archaeology & History

Sphinx head found in mystery Greek tomb

By T.K. Randall
October 25, 2014 ·  8 comments

Digital reconstruction of the tomb's interior. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 4.0 greektoys.org The tomb, which is thought to date back to between 325 and 300 BC, is the largest ever uncovered at Amphipolis in Greece.

Work has been ongoing since excavations began back in August in an effort to uncover what secrets may be buried there.So far archaeologists have discovered a number of intriguing finds including two headless sphinx statues, several carved columns, intricate mosaics and a depiction of a man driving a chariot.

This week the excavation team unearthed a carved sphinx head that is believed to be one of those missing from the two statues found earlier. Traces of pigment on the stones suggest that they were once painted red and small fragments discovered nearby indicate that they once had wings too.

It still isn't clear who is buried in the tomb but archaeologists believe it is someone of great importance. Previous suggestions that it could be Alexander the Great have since been downplayed however on the basis that the ancient king was thought to have been buried in Egypt, not Greece.

Source: Yahoo! News | Comments (8)

Tags: Greece, Tomb, Alexander