The Great Tumulus of Vergina (Aegae) is considered to be the royal burial complex of the Macedonian kings. Beneath it four tombs were discovered, labeled Tomb I, II, III and IV. Several hypotheses have been proposed for the identities of the occupants of the “royal tombs”, but without scientific backing. We present new data from Tomb I (“The Tomb of Persephone”), which contained inhumed (unburnt), in situ and commingled adult skeletal remains, as well as commingled nonadult and animal bones. We applied a range of scientific techniques, including radiocarbon dating, ancient DNA (aDNA), strontium and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis, supported by osteological and odontological observations on the adult and nonadult bones found in Tomb I to provide concrete evidence for the date of burials, sex, age at death and origin of the individuals interred in this tomb. Our results show that, with the exception of four bones that were identified as female, all the adult bones are male according to the aDNA and osteological results, and they belonged to a man aged 25–35 years with a stature of approximately 167 cm. Radiocarbon dating places this burial in the first half of the 4th century calBC, specifically between 400 and 367 calBC, and by applying a potential collagen offset correction this is slightly shifted to 388-356 calBC at the latest. The female bones date to the same period. However, all the nonadults and animal bones, date to the Roman period from 150 calBC, the earliest to 130 calAD the latest. Therefore, these are not related to the primary adult burials. The male occupant was most likely an important Macedonian royal of the Argead/Temenid house who died in the period 388-356 calBC and was probably honored or worshipped in the shrine above and entombed likely together with a female. Previous suggestions that the skeletal remains belong to Philip II, his wife Cleopatra and newborn child are not scientifically sustainable.

中文翻译：

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Vergina 大坟墓 I 号墓（“珀耳塞福涅墓”）的历史和居住者的新科学证据

Vergina 大坟墓 （Aegae） 被认为是马其顿国王的皇家墓葬群。在它下面发现了四座坟墓，分别标记为 I、II、III 和 IV 号坟墓。对于“皇家陵墓”居住者的身份，已经提出了几种假设，但没有科学依据。我们展示了来自 I 号墓（“珀耳塞福涅之墓”）的新数据，其中包含埋葬（未焚烧）、原位和混合的成人骨骼遗骸，以及混合的非成人和动物骨骼。我们应用了一系列科学技术，包括放射性碳测年、古代 DNA （aDNA）、锶和稳定的碳和氮同位素分析，并对 I 号墓中发现的成人和非成人骨骼进行了骨学和牙学观察，为埋葬日期、性别、死亡年龄和埋葬在该墓中的个人的来源提供了具体证据。我们的结果表明，根据 aDNA 和骨学结果，除了四块被鉴定为女性的骨骼外，所有成年骨骼都是男性，它们属于一名年龄在 25-35 岁之间，身高约为 167 厘米的男性。放射性碳测年法将这个埋葬时间放在 4 世纪上半叶的 calBC 之间，特别是在 400 到 367 calBC 之间，通过应用潜在的胶原蛋白偏移校正，最迟略微偏移到 388-356 calBC。女性骨骼可以追溯到同一时期。然而，所有非成人和动物骨骼都可以追溯到公元前 150 年（最早到公元 130 年）的罗马时期。因此，这些与主要的成人墓葬无关。 男性居住者很可能是 Argead/Temenid 家族的重要马其顿皇室成员，他死于公元前 388-356 年期间，可能在上面的神殿中受到尊敬或崇拜，并与女性一起埋葬。以前认为骨骼遗骸属于菲利普二世、他的妻子克利奥帕特拉和新生儿的说法在科学上是站不住脚的。