Anthropologists confirm discovery of Alexander the Great's father's remains

The remains of Macedonian King Philip II, who fathered Alexander the Great, have been confirmed as those found in a tomb in Vergina, Greece, Discovery News reports.

Greek archeologist Manolis Andronikos first discovered the tomb in 1977, one of three that were under a large mound known as the Great Tumulus. One of the tombs had been looted, but the second tomb contained a main chamber that held the remains of a male skeleton, while an antechamber housed the remains of a female skeleton. Since then, researchers have been trying to determine whether Tomb II's male occupant was Philip II or Philip III Arrhidaeus (Alexander the Great's half-brother).

On Friday, experts confirmed that the male remains were indeed those of King Philip II, based on "uncovered pathologies, activity markers and trauma," Discovery News notes. The findings, encompassing 3,000 digital color photographs supported by a variety of X-ray technologies, were announced at the Archeological Museum of Thessaloniki.

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