A large ancient copper pot filled with dirty water and human bones contained a wreath of gold made in the time of Alexander the Great. The spectacular was found on a dig by a freshman worker. Greece, with its blindingly white buildings, rocky cliffs, sparkly Aegean seas is without peer the cultural birthplace of western civilization. Now, it has added another fantastic find to its immense collection of archaeological and anthropological puzzle pieces detailing life from more than two thousand years ago. Somebody robbed a fresh grave of one of noble or royal lineage after the burial, hiding the wreath in the middle of the bustling Aigai market with human bones in the pot with all the pieces dating back to the audacious empire building period of Macedonian King Phillip II, Alexander the Great's father's murder by stabbing from his aggrieved bodyguard at the age of 46. The Age of Aristotle. (AP Photo/Aristotle University)

"This happened quite soon after the original burial; it's not that a grave robber took it centuries later and hid it with the intention of coming back," excavator Chryssoula Saatsoglou-Paliadeli told TheAssociated Press. "It probably belonged to a high-ranking person."  

The "impressively large" copper vessel contained a cylindrical golden jar with a lid, with the gold wreath of oak leaves and the bones inside.

"The young workman who saw it was astounded and shouted 'land mine!'" the university statement said.

Saatsoglou-Paliadeli, a professor of archaeology at the university, said the find probably dates to the 4th century B.C., during which Philip and Alexander reigned.

The Archaeological Site of Aigai (or Verdina) continues to cement why it was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in the 20th session of the committee in 1996. The northern city of Verdina came into existence in 1922 with a mix of cultural heritages from Greek serf descendants, Bulgaria and Asia Minor. More than fifty years before the hills excited a cadre of archaeologists that royal tombs and burial mounds of the nobility were there. So many munificent artifacts including the tumulus, were found, they built a museum as part of a showcase and conservation effort in 1993. Alexander the Great's son's tomb was found untouched just like his grandfathers. All the found royal or minor nobility's treasures are part of the museum's exhibits.

Greece continues to unearth pieces of the past as the very ground changed from fires, seismic activity and the amount of people gives up its buried treasures. One of the big archaeological quests is discovering the final resting place of Alexander the Great. In Vergina in 1977, a royal cemetery had gold and silver trinkets, elaborate wreaths and other precious tokens such as The Golden Larnax, found alongside the remains of Phillip II. Those finds now reside in the Museum of Vergina augmented by the chronicler and critic of Philip's life, the orator Demosthenes.

A trip to Greece is filled with mind-bending ways to spend the time either in the ancient past or the modern wonders. For certain hotels one had to take a donkey up to enter as the narrow streets were made thousands of years ago. Yet, the marketplaces of Greece thrive into today. the people are clothed a bit differently but the activities remain the same, fresh food and fruits for travelers, a bit of gossip and a sense of community. Beneath all of that thousands of years in the past, somebody moved a body and wreath and buried it in the vessels of the day to be found in today's world.