Archaeologist claims he's found ancient Greek kings' throne

Greek archaeologist Christofilis Maggidis speaks as a photograph of a stone he believes belonged to the lost royal throne in the ancient palace of Mycenae, heart of the Mycenaean civilization, in southern Greece, during a press conference in Athens, on Tuesday, June 14, 2016. Maggidis says the worked stone, found by chance two years ago under the prehistoric citadel, is a chunk of the monolithic throne that was smashed when an earthquake sent part of the palace tumbling into a streambed below. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris (The Associated Press)

ATHENS, Greece – 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, says the chunk of worked limestone was found two years ago, in a streambed under the imposing citadel.

He told a press conference in Athens Tuesday that the throne was among sections of the hilltop palace that collapsed during an earthquake around 1200 B.C.

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.

No other thrones have been found in mainland Greece's Mycenaean palaces. An older, smaller example was found on Knossos, Crete.