by Megan Gannon, News Editor | November 12, 2014 12:10pm ET

The burial vault inside a tomb at Amphipolis.
Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture
Skeletal remains have been discovered inside a lavish burial complex in Greece that dates back to the era of Alexander the Great. The tomb is thought to be the largest of its kind in the Greek world, and the bone fragments could help solve the mystery of who was buried inside.

Excitement has been building for months as archaeologists venture deeper inside the 4th century B.C. burial complex in Amphipolis, a city in Greece’s central Macedonia region, located about 65 miles (105 kilometers) east of Thessaloniki. The excavators have found sphinxes, a stunning mosaic floor and artfully crafted female statues standing guard at an interior doorway. But until now, they had not found any trace of a body.

The Greek Ministry of Culture announced today (Nov. 12) that fragmentary skeletal remains were discovered beneath the floor in the tomb’s third chamber. [See Photos of the Alexander-Era Tomb’s Excavation]

Diagram of burial vault
Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture
The body had apparently been placed within a wooden coffin inside a limestone vault. The archaeologists also discovered metal nails and fragments of glass scattered among the bits of bone.

The excavators, led by Greek archaeologist Katerina Peristeri, have been trying to stave off speculation about who might be buried inside the tomb. But, they said today the complex was probably too expensive to have been bankrolled by a single individual. The size and rich details of the tomb suggest it must have been built for a “prominent figure,” according to a statement from the Greek Ministry of Culture.

In September, the head of the Ministry of Culture, Kostas Tasoulas, said it was highly unlikely that the Amphipolis tomb belonged to Alexander the Great himself, but he later retreated from that statement.

“There are no written documents on where Alexander the Great is buried, this is what I said, and not that the tomb does not belong to Alexander the Great,” Tasoulas told a radio program, according to the Greek Reporter.

Alexander the Great died in Babylon (present-day Iraq) in 323 B.C. Against his last wishes to be thrown into a river, Alexander’s generals eventually buried him in Egypt, but the exact location of his final resting place has been lost to history, Archaeology magazine reported.

Excavations have been going on at the so-called Kasta Hill site since 2012, but the dig gained widespread attention this past August after a pair of broken sphinxes were revealed at the entrance to the tomb, which is enclosed by a marble wall that runs about 1,600 feet (490 meters) around the perimeter. Among the more remarkable finds from the excavation was a colorful mosaic floor showing a scene from Greek mythology: the goddess Persephone being abducted by Hades and taken to the underworld.

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The site is believed to be the largest ancient tomb to have been discovered in Greece, and has spurred speculation as to whether the ancient conqueror or a member of his family was buried there.

Officials said the remains were clearly those of “a prominent person”, with speculation rife it could be that of Roxana, Alexander’s Persian wife, his mother Olympias or one of his generals.

The dead body had been placed in a wooden coffin, which disintegrated over time. The skeletal remains were found both inside and outside the grave buried underground in the innermost chamber at the site.

The skeleton will now “be studied by researchers”, the ministry said in a statement.

“It is probably the monument of a dead person who became a hero, meaning a mortal who was worshipped by society at that time,” the statement said.

“The deceased was a prominent person, since only this could explain the construction of this unique burial complex.”

Katerina Peristeri, the archaeologist in charge of the dig near Amphipolis in northern Greece, is due to reveal the first of her highly anticipated findings on November 29.

The discovery came as archaeologists confirmed another tomb, close to where the treasure-filled burial chamber of Alexander’s father Philip II of Macedon was unearthed in 1977, had also survived the centuries intact.

Angelique Kottaridis, who is in charge of the dig at Vergina, 180 kilometres to the west of Amphipolis, said it also dated from Alexander’s lifetime, after breaking the news on her Facebook page Tuesday.

Excavations at the site in north-eastern Greece near the city of Thessaloniki began in 2012. They captured global attention in August when archaeologists announced the discovery of vast tomb guarded by two sphinxes and circled by a 497-metre marble wall.

The near-intact sculptures and staggering mosaics found at Amphipolis have been a cheering reminder of past glories for a country mired in economic woes.

The beauty of a sphinx and intricate mosaics of a man driving a chariot and the abduction of Persephone by Pluto have also fuelled theories the tomb was for a very high-status individual.

Whoever the massive fourth-century BC tomb holds, experts said it was highly unlikely to be Alexander himself, who conquered the Persian empire and much of the known world before his death at the age of 32.

After his mysterious end in Babylon he is said to have been buried in Alexandria in Egypt, the city he founded, although no grave has ever been found.

Reuters/AFP