ATHENS (Reuters) - Archaeologists unearthed the missing head of one of the two sphinxes found guarding the entrance of an ancient tomb in Greece's northeast, as the diggers made their way into the monument's inner chambers, the culture ministry said on Tuesday.

The tomb on the Amphipolis site, about 100 km (65 miles) from Greece's second-biggest city Thessaloniki, has been hailed by archaeologists as a major discovery from the era of Alexander the Great. They say it appears to be the largest ancient tomb to have been discovered in Greece.

The marble head, slightly damaged on the nose, has curls falling on the statue's left shoulder and traces of a reddish color.

"It is a sculpture of exceptional art," the ministry said, adding that fragments of the two sphinxes' wings were also found.

Excavations, which began in 2012, have not yet determined who is buried in the tomb. They have uncovered an intricate mosaic depicting the god Hermes as the conductor of souls to the afterlife. Made up of colored pebbles, it covers the floor of a room thought to be the antechamber to the main burial ground.

Culture ministry officials have said that the monument appears to belong to a prominent Macedonian from the 300-325 B.C. era.

(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Larry King)

The impressive mosaic depicting the Abduction of Persephone by Pluto that was recently revealed in the Amphipolis tomb has fascinated and stunned archeologists for its unique detail and colors. According to the statement issued by the Ministry of Culture, the mosaic in Amphipolis appears to have been inspired by a similar wall painting depicting that was found in the so-called Tomb of Persephone, in the royal tomb in Vergina.

While the identity of the person for whom the tomb was constructed still remains a mystery, the archeological team undertaking the efforts believes that it probably belongs to an important figure. The head of the archeological dig, Katerina Peristeri, told journalists that the person entombed was “without a doubt extremely important”.

When further pressed by journalists, Mrs. Peristeri stressed that it was too early to determine whether the tomb in Amphipolis belong to a member of the royal Macedonian family, but pointed out that the tomb’s importance increased with the discovery of the mosaic. As for the circular gap in the middle of the mosaic, Mrs. Peristeri noted that the damage does not appear to have been caused naturally, without further elaborating.

The general secretary of the Ministry of Culture Lina Mendoni reassured journalists that the findings would remain in the area, dispelling rumors that they were to be transferred to other museums. Mrs. Mendoni added that the Ministry’s policy is to return artifacts to the area where they were discovered, even from older digs.

The municipal council of Setter recently voted in favor of creating museums to house the findings, one in Amphipolis and another in Serres.

According to a report in the Skopje-based Sloboden Pecat newspaper, American diplomatMatthew Nimetz, the UN’s special representative and mediator in the FYROM naming dispute with Greece, is about to submit a new proposal.

The newspaper cites “well-informed sources” claiming that Mr. Nimetz will suggest the name “Republic of Upper Macedonia” for the former Yugoslav country, while the domestic language would be referred to as “Macedonian” and the citizens as “people of Upper Macedonia”.

The report also stresses that FYROM’s constitution would not change, meaning that the international name would not be used domestically. Skopje appears to be pleased with its language being referred to as “Macedonian”, but is troubled by the “people of Upper Macedonia” name. Mr. Nimetz is said to present his latest proposal first to Greece, before pressuring the FYROM government into an agreement.

Another Skopje-based newspaper, Utrinski Vesnik, has also reported that Mr. Nimetz had taken the initiative to resume negotiations between Greece and FYROM in October, however this has been postponed, giving the impression that neither side is in a rush. Rumors suggest that efforts may unofficially be made prior to the EU summit in December.

A team of Greek researchers has confirmed that bones found in a two-chambered royal tomb at Vergina, a town some 100 miles away from Amphipolis's mysterious burial mound, indeed belong to the Macedonian King Philip II, Alexander the Great's father.

The anthropological investigation examined 350 bones and fragments found in two larnakes, or caskets, of the tomb. It uncovered pathologies, activity markers and trauma that helped identify the tomb's occupants.

Along with the cremated remains of Philip II, the burial, commonly known as Tomb II, also contained the bones of a woman warrior, possibly the daughter of the Skythian King Athea, Theodore Antikas, head of the Art-Anthropological research team of the Vergina excavation, told Discovery News.

The findings will be announced on Friday at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki. Accompanied by 3,000 digital color photographs and supported by X-ray computed tomography, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray fluorescence, the research aims to settle a decades-old debate over the cremated skeleton.

Scholars have argued over those bones ever since Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos discovered the tomb in 1977-78. He excavated a large mound -- the Great Tumulus -- at Vergina on the advice of the English classicist Nicholas Hammond.

Among the monuments found within the tumulus were three tombs. One, called Tomb I, had been looted, but contained a stunning wall painting of the Rape of Persephone, along with fragmentary human remains.

Tomb II remained undisturbed and contained the almost complete cremated remains of a male skeleton in the main chamber and the cremated remains of a female in the antechamber. Grave goods included silver and bronze vessels, gold wreaths, weapons, armor and two gold larnakes.

Tomb III was also found unlooted, with a silver funerary urn that contained the bones of a young male, and a number of silver vessels and ivory reliefs.

Most of the scholarly debate concentrated on the occupants of Tomb II, with experts arguing that the occupants were either Philip II and Cleopatra or Meda, both his wives, or Philip III Arrhidaeus, Alexander's half-brother, who assumed the throne after Alexander's death, with his wife Eurydice.

King Philip II was a powerful fourth-century B.C. military ruler from the Greek kingdom of Macedon who gained control of Greece and the Balkan peninsula through tactful use of warfare, diplomacy, and marriage alliances (the Macedonians practiced polygamy).

His efforts -- he reformed the Macedonian army and proposed the invasion of Persia -- later provided the basis for the achievements of his son and successor Alexander the Great, who went on to conquer most of the known world.

The overlord of an empire stretching from Greece and Egypt eastward across Asia to India, Alexander died in Babylon, now in central Iraq, in June of 323 B.C. — just before his 33rd birthday.

His elusive tomb is one of the great unsolved mysteries of the ancient world.

Analyzed by Antikas' team since 2009, the male and female bones in Philip II's tomb have revealed peculiarities not previously seen or recorded.

"The individual suffered from frontal and maxillary sinusitis that might have been caused by an old facial trauma," Antikas said.

Such trauma could be related to an arrow that hit and blinded Philip II's right eye at the siege of Methone in 354 B.C. The Macedonian king survived and ruled for another 18 years before he was assassinated at the celebration of his daughter's wedding.

The anthropologists found further bone evidence to support the identification with Philip II, who being a warrior, suffered many wounds, as historical accounts testify.

"He had signs of chronic pathology on the visceral surface of several low thoracic ribs, indicating pleuritis," Antikas said.

He noted that the pathology may have been the effect of Philip's trauma when his right clavicle was shattered with a lance in 345 or 344 B.C.