“Because unfounded ‘information’ and speculations [i.e. the reports about the skeleton belonging to a middle-aged woman and the speculations it could bethat of Alexander the Great’s mother, Olympias] have been circulating in the Internet about the osteological material found in the burial monument of Amphipolis”, the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports has issued the following Press Release:
“The study of the osteological material found in the fourth chamber of the burial monument on Kasta hill has been assigned to a interdisciplinary team of researchers from the Aristotle University and the National Center for Scientific Research ‘Demokritos’. The research programme aims at a modern approach to the archaeology of death. Taking as a starting point the individual represented by the skeletal remains of the Kasta tomb the anthropological, social and historical context of the Amphipolis population will be investigated in a systematic and scientifically appropriate manner.
“The analysis of this specific material is part of an extensive research programme, comprising the holistic approach of a sample of some 300 skeletons revealed in the broader Amphipolis are and dating to between 1000BC and 200 BC.
“Information regarding the sex, age, height etc. resulting of the macroscopic study of the osteological material found in the fourth chamber of the burial complex will be announced in January.
“In the framework of the two-year research programme all required modern analytical methods will be applied”.
The investigation of all the relevant archaeological materials will be completed within a period of twenty months, the Ministry announced.