March 16, 2009 Celtic grave full of jewelry

Kralovice in western Bohemia became the second locality where a unique find from the Celtic period was made. It was a La Tène tomb from the fourth century BC. Inside, archaeologists have discovered a rich collection of jewelry. At that time, experts from the West Bohemian Museum informed about the find.

The leader of the archeological team was Martin Čepura. "It's a skeletal grave that faces south. It was formed in a shallow pit lined with wood. It is a truly unique find in the north of Pilsen. A woman apparently was buried in the grave. Judging by the equipment that was in the grave. However, the skeleton was decomposed by aggressive acid soil, only a few teeth remained, "the archaeologist at the time explained the results of the research.

The jewelry find was really rich. The woman had a bronze neckerchief around her neck, two clasps fastened her dress, her hand was adorned with a bracelet, and her legs were decorated with bronze ornaments. She then had a ceramic vessel behind her head. Specifically, it was a polished pot. Archaeologists found the tomb with jewelry as they examined the site where the construction of a new city library was planned.

According to Čepura, the finding of the skeletal grave was also unique in that in the early La Tène period it was mostly buried by heat. Archaeologists have also recorded several discoveries from the Middle Ages. Right next to the grave was a deep pit with ceramic shards and remnants of wood and leather.

"We also found the remains of a wooden house that was destroyed by fire. It had a stone foundation with a cellar. Here, too, we discovered pieces of pottery, but also entire vessels. We also discovered a set of stove tiles from the 15th and 16th centuries, "Čepura said at the time, stating that he would exhibit the findings in the Mariánská Týnice Museum, which took part in the research. Experts preserved the jewelry and glued the ceramics.

Until then, this was only the fourth such finding in the Pilsen and Karlovy Vary regions. Three graves were found in Radčice near Pilsen, the first around 1983, the other two a few years later. This was only the second find of such a grave in the vicinity of Kralovice. But Čepura assumes that there will be more of them.

Sources: www.denik.cz, MF DNES, www.rozhlas.cz