1,000-year-old burials of ‘first Christians’ in Poland discovered near medieval settlement
Archaeologists have discovered part of a cemetery, including 1,000-year-old human skeletons, near the remains of a fortified medieval settlement in the village of Borkowo in Poland.
The findings date from a time when many people were converting from paganism to Christianity in Poland. “We consider these people to be representatives of the ‘first Christians’ of these lands,” Justyna Marchewka-Dlugońskaresearcher at Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw and member of the research team, told Live Science in an email.
Archaeologists have noted that even as people converted from paganism to Christianity, they still placed grave goods in their burials – a practice more common among pagans. The team found the remains of arrowheads, a battle axe, knife blades, rings and carnelian beads (a reddish semi-precious stone) with the bodies.
Although some media outlets claimed the discovery was a mass burial containing warriors who served Mieszko I — a Polish duke who ruled from about 960 to 992, who unified the country and created an independent state — researchers we spoke with said those claims were inaccurate. Instead, they said, people were buried in single graves within a cemetery.
Although all of the burials appear to date from the time of Mieszko I, it is not clear what connection, if any, these people had to him. “Historically, we don’t yet know if we can discuss any links,” Marchewka-Długońska said.
“For now, the skeletons have been collected and are awaiting anthropological analysis,” Marchewka-Długońska said.
Picture 1 of 2
The analysis could tell researchers more about who these people were. At least one of the people may have suffered trauma during their life, according to Marchewka-Długońska.
“Preliminary observations, made before cleaning, revealed traces of healed rib fractures” on the right side of one of the bodies, Marchewka-Długońska said.
The burials were discovered during excavations carried out before the construction of a gas pipeline in the area, and research is ongoing.
