6,000-Year-Old Grave of a Teenage Boy Discovered in Litoměřice

Archaeologists in the Czech town of Litoměřice have uncovered a grave more than six thousand years old, containing the remains of a teenage boy who died at around 15 years of age. The excavation wrapped up last week, and the discovery was made right at its very end, at considerable depth below the surface, according to the Litoměřice bishopric.

The burial belongs to the Linear Pottery culture — a Neolithic tradition named for the way its pottery was decorated with fine, needle-like punctures. This ancient culture is credited with bringing farming and settled life to Europe after arriving from the Near East.

“Next to the boy’s skeletal remains, the grave contained a total of twelve vessels, some of which have survived in excellent condition. He was also buried with a polished stone axe. Fragments of bone were found inside the pottery, and it’s not yet clear whether these are traces of cremation or part of some other kind of burial offering,” said archaeologist Milan Sýkora.

According to him, the find is truly exceptional: a burial with this particular combination of grave goods is almost unheard of in Central Europe.

The artefacts will now be sent to laboratories for anthropological analysis of the remains, while the contents of the vessels will also be examined. “There could be pollen and other organic residue inside, which would tell us about the environment at the time — what kind of vegetation grew here, what people were cultivating,” the archaeologist explained. Once the research is complete, all the finds will be handed over to the local museum for permanent display.

Besides the ancient burial, the team also came across the remains of a house that burned down around the year 1200, which yielded a whole collection of pottery. A 12th-century wedding ring was also found in one of the excavated houses of the old settlement.

“It’s made of bronze, consisting of a band with two round discs decorated with plant motifs, joined by a square plate stamped with a cross,” Milan Sýkora said, describing the piece.

The excavation took place on Cathedral Square, on land once occupied by a fortified settlement founded by Duke Boleslav I as a Přemyslid stronghold in northern Bohemia. Later, in the 11th century, Duke Soběslav I established a chapter here. “Although Duke Boleslav was a fratricide who ordered the killing of Saint Wenceslas, we owe to him the founding of an important early medieval fortress here. Our finds now confirm all of this,” Sýkora concluded.

Read also: Prague Castle from the inside: 9 spots within the fortress you can’t miss

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz