King Philip II of Macedonia , the father of Alexander the Great , was know to have sustained a penetrating wound from a lance through his leg – cripple him three years before he was assassinated in 336 BCE . Macedonian royal house were interred at three grave in the Great Tumulus James Jerome Hill in the northern Greek town of Vergina . It ’s unanimously agreed that the occupant in grave 3 is Alexander the Great ’s son , Alexander IV . It ’s believed that the remains of King Philip II were comprise in grave 2 . It ’s even usually called “ The Tomb of Philip . ” But was that really him ? After all , two manful skeletons were excavated in the late 1970s : one from tomb 1 , another from grave 2 .
After applying today ’s forensic technique to analyze the haggard remains , Antonis Bartsiokas , from the Democritus University of Thrace , and colleagues say that Philip II was really swallow in tomb 1 . Their findings are published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesthis week .
First , the squad estimated years with the help of CT imaging and by examining tooth and pelvic bones . And pelvic finger cymbals , together with cranial bone , also helped them to determine the gender . Then they used a 16 - slice scanner and an ten - ray proficiency calledradiographyto scan finicky bones of pastime .
The 45 - year - previous male person from tomb 1 was 1.8 meters ( well-nigh 6 metrical unit ) tall . His left stage bone showed a stiffened knee joint ( called flexionalankylosis ) with planetary house of bone fusion ( pictured above ) , likely the issue of grave injury - related inflammation . And right through the overgrowth of the articulatio genus , they found a hole that equate to a piercing wounding made by a fast - moving projectile . This trauma would have affect his motive power , rendering the king square . Additionally , asymmetrical pearl lesions indicate what ’s called “ wryneck ” – a potential side effect of the compensatory head tilting tied to an uneven pace . Every time he stepped on his left pegleg , he ’d have to tilt his head to the right wing . His recovery after this wound is an incredible event in an era without antibiotic drug , the squad says , and it demonstrates remarkable skill by his doctors to deflect bleeding .
Tomb 1 also housed the corpse of an 18 - class - old female person and a newborn infant . These likely belong to the king ’s wife Cleopatra and their fry . They were both off shortly after his death . Her maxilla is pictured above to the rightfield , and the newborn ’s remains are pictured below .
Since the male skeleton discovered in tomb 2 show no lesions indicative of a approximate - fateful leg combat injury , the researchers reason that the resident of this grave must have been King Arrhidaeus ( Alexander the Great ’s half brother ) and his wife Eurydice . This unplundered tomb also contained armor with a helmet and a shield .
Newborn child of Queen Cleopatra and King Philip II of Macedonia . Antonis Bartsiokas .
image : Javier Trueba ( top , in-between ) , Antonis Bartsiokas ( bottom ) .
