Archaeologists have discovered a rare, intact Roman grave during excavations in Vinkovci, Croatia, at the site of a future city market.
The finding followed researchers’ unearthing of 44 Roman graves in the area earlier this spring. The most recent burial was distinctive because it hadn’t been disturbed or looted, an occurrence that’s extremely rare, experts say.
The grave included the remains of a man believed to have been 40 to 45 years old. “Intact brick-built Roman graves are rarely found,” Hrvoje Vulić, director of the Vinkovci City Museum, said.
“Out of more than 200 graves excavated in this area, only two were untouched,” Vulić added.
The burial chamber’s walls were built with brick. Only a few funerary grave goods were found within, including an iron object near the deceased's right foot and a piece of bronze near the shoulder. Although only a small number of artefacts were recovered, the skeleton is well preserved and expected to provide valuable information through further analysis. Researchers hope to discover more about the man’s health, diet and origins.
The excavation site is within the northern necropolis of ancient Cibalae, a Roman settlement that once occupied modern-day Vinkovci. Cibalae was an important military and trading centre positioned along major routes between the eastern and western parts of the empire.
The area was also the site of the Battle of Cibalae in AD 314 under Constantine the Great and Licinius, where the two men competed for power of the Roman Empire. Cibalae would subsequently become the birthplace of Roman emperors Valentinian I and Valens, the only Roman emperors born within modern Croatia.
Header Image Credit : Grad Vinkovci/Josip Romić
Sources : Croatia Week