



The Greek Ministry of Culture issued a statement yesterday refuting allegations that the skeleton found in the Amphipolis tomb belongs to Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great.

Recent reports said that the skeleton belongs to a woman who died at the age of 54 approximately. The fractures in the pelvic area reinforced the assumption that it belongs to Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great, who was stoned to death at that age in Pydna, under orders of General Cassandros in 316 B.C.

However, the Greek Ministry of Culture issued an official announcement saying that the rumor is not substantiated and that reports on the identity of the dead are just assumptions.

The ministry statement says that “the study of skeletal material, found in the fourth place of the burial monument on the Casta hill, is commissioned to a team of scientists from the Aristotle and Democritus Universities… who investigate systematically and scientifically based on the anthropological, social and historical context of the population of Amphipolis… The analysis of this material is part of a broader research program, which includes the holistic approach of a sample of about three hundred skeletons, coming from the area of Amphipolis and chronologically cover the period from 1000 B.C. to 200 B.C”

“The results — such as sex, age, stature — the macroscopic study of skeletal material from the fourth place of the burial complex, will be announced in January,” the announcement adds.



