A Greek archaeologist believes he has found a fragment of the lost throne of the rulers of Mycenae, famous from ancient myth and the story of the Trojan War.
Christofilis Maggidis, who heads excavations at the site in southern Greece, recently said that the chunk of worked limestone was found two years ago, in a streambed under the imposing citadel.
He told a press conference in Athens that the royal throne was among sections of the hilltop palace that collapsed during an earthquake around 1200BC. Greek Culture Ministry officials have distanced themselves from the identification, citing a separate study that ruled the chunk to be part of a stone basin.
Its rulers are among the key figures of Greek myth, caught in a vicious cycle of parricide, incest and dynastic strife.
An older, smaller example was found in the Minoan palace of Knossos, on the island of Crete.
The precise type of stone used has not been found anywhere else in the palace of Mycenae, although a similar material was used extensively in the citadel's massive defensive walls.
