New geophysical scans of the Kasta Hill burial mound at Amphipolis in northern Greece, conducted by the National University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) have yielded some incredible results, pointing to the presence of an extensive network of underground rooms and corridors that resemble a labyrinth. The findings suggest that there may be many more tombs within the tumulus.

The full results of the research, led by Gregory Tsokas, Professor of Applied Geophysics at AUTH, are due to be released in one or two weeks, but preliminary indications suggest there is a lot more than meets the eye in the Amphipolis mound in northern Greece.

A marble wall surrounds the enormous Kasta Hill burial mound in Amphipolis.

According to Xrono Metro , the aim of the research is to update older measurements obtained by both the University of Patras and the Technological Educational Institute of Serres, by using the most up-to-date methods available to identify what lies beneath the tons of soil that make up Kasta Hill.

The geophysical research complements the work being carried out by the multi-disciplinary team of researchers appointed by the Ministry of Culture, as it may yield information that will be used to inform additional excavations within the burial mound.

Archaeologists are busy excavating within the Amphipolis tomb. However, geophysical scans suggests there may be much than meets the eye within Kasta Hill. Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture.

Mr Tsokas has acknowledged that the high-tech scans are complicated by the sheer height of the burial mound, the density of the layers, and the ‘noise’ generated by natural phenomena, such as large rocks, which create a risk of giving an inaccurate image. The scientific team is therefore ensuring proper time is taken to fully analyze the readings and images. All measurements will be further processed in the Laboratory of Aristotle before publication of the complete results.

The area in red represents the tomb currently being excavated, while the rest of the image reflects what appear to be corridors and rooms in the rest of the mound, found through geophysical scanning. ( amfipolinews)

If the images are what they seem (i.e. a man-made network of tunnels and rooms), we may be dealing with a complete necropolis, rather than a single tomb. Archaeologists are already calling Amphipolis the discovery of the decade, but there may be much more to come.

Featured image: Left: Aerial view of Kasta Hill (google maps). Right: Results of geophysical scan suggest a complex network of corridors and chambers lies within the burial mound ( amfipolinews)

By April Holloway