Alexander The Great Controversy Analysis

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In the archaeological world, a new controversy has been stirred up by King Philip II of Macedon, also known as Alexander the Great’s father, and whether his skeletal remains are in Tomb I or Tomb II at Vergina in Macedonia. Old Bones, New Controversy: Opposing Studies Published in Same Year Within two months, two opposing studies have been published regarding Philip II’s final resting place in the tombs at Vergina in Macedonia. The conflicting articles have ignited a heated debate as to which tomb sheltered the ancient Greek king at the famous UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to the new article (http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/07/15/1510906112), published by Antonis Bartisokas and fellow colleagues in the Proceedings of the …show more content…

The researchers suggested that the remains in Tomb II had actually belonged to Philip III Arridhaeus (the king’s son) and his wife. After PNAS published Bartsiokas’s article, Antikas wrote a letter to the editor indicating a deep concern over the publication and its lack of full disclosure of the other skeletons found in the tomb. Having studied the tomb himself, Antikas knows there are seven skeletal remains of humans in the tomb and also a few animal remains. For whatever reason, Bartsiokas did not include all of the skeletal findings in his published article. The researchers only identified King Philip II, Cleopatra, and a set of neonate remains as their newborn. According to Antikas, this lack of disclosure is speculation enough to warrant the new findings as not being conclusively and sufficiently supported by evidence. Furthermore, the suggestion of the remains in Tomb II belonging to Philip III and his wife were merely based on stories from history rather than skeletal

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