Find: 1,600-year-old cemetery reveals secrets of Europe’s dark age

Archaeologists from the Museum of Eastern Bohemia in Hradec Králové (MVČ HK), uncovered a 1600-year-old cemetery that uncovered mysteries from that era. Although the finding took place in 2019, the findings have just been published after several studies conducted by specialists.

The strange site was dated signal V dC, and is believed to belong at the time of fall of the Western Roman Empire which gave way at the beginning of the Middle Ages. These years were characterized by migration and the instability of civilization.

MVČ HK archaeologist, Pavel Hornik, assured that the graves found are very strange and underlined: “In East Bohemia, it is only the second chamber of the tomb from the migration period that has been explored. The first in the area was a grave in Plotiště nad Labem, discovered in the 1960s. It was the funeral of an old man with a child“.

The The mentioned graves were looted many years ago by thieves, shortly after the funerals, and only one of them has preserved the curious artifacts, as explained. The items continue to be examined by experts from Masaryk University, Prague University of Chemistry and Technology, Institute of Archeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Příbram Mining Museum and from the Max Planck Institute in Germany.

As noted in published studies, the camera of this the tomb remains intact and it contained several elements of historical and artistic quality that scientists have highlighted. Among the artifacts they stood out, they were observed four silver and gold brooches inlaid with semi-precious stones and a headdress adorned with white gold.

In addition, they were found different fabric remnants on the silver and gold clasps. One of the fabrics belonged to the garment attached by the buckles, the other to a coat or fabric that covered the woman. Remains of leather and fur were also found on the buckles.

The results of the remaining graves that were looted showed that belonged to people aged 16 to 55. In addition, scientists said they were only saved funeral offerings such as knives, a severed sword, metal belts, antler combs and decorative shoe material. In one of them, the samples reflected the presence of acids and fats indicating that it was ruminant meat, like a cow.

The researchers also revealed studies carried out on the remains of corpses. In this sense, they emphasized that arthritis it was evident in the bones of one of the people buried. One of the anthropologists who participated in the research was Milada Hylmarová, who added that he had noticed asymmetric muscles in the lower limbs and explained: “Because the skeleton is incomplete, the cause cannot be determined, but it could be the result of a stroke.”.

Other diseases they were able to detect were cancer of the skull and pelvis and other ailments like caries Yes joint injuries.

Beyond these widespread findings, they claimed that the investigation is in progress with him aim to reveal more complete data on the lives of these people.

THE NATION