14 Jun 2014 Brickworks hid the grave of an archer

The children came across the human bones while playing in a former brickyard in Držovice in the Vyškov region. Archaeologists later said that this was a truly unique grave of an archer.

They concluded this from other finds. In addition to the body, they also discovered a skeleton of a horse, iron arrows and the remains of a wooden bow. The bones were protruding from one of the walls of the former mining pit.

"After stripping away the overburden, the original rectangular burial pit was carved out, and in lowering it we found a horse skeleton, which "Pavel Fojtík from the Prostějov branch of the Institute of Archaeological Heritage Care in Brno commented on the discovery.

The archaeologists were summoned to the site by police officers who were notified of the discovery of the skeletal remains. Considering the situation and all the circumstances, it was clear from the beginning that this was an archaeological find. The bones were located in the highest level of one of the walls of the former mining pit. According to the archaeologists, the horse was buried at the same time or only a short time after the archer.

"After the horse skeleton was excavated and documented, it was proceeded to partially uncover of the human skeleton so that it could be documented as clearly as possible. In the grave itself there was an individual in a stretched position on its back with its arms along its body," Fojtík explained.

Under the forearm of the left hand, archaeologists found ten pieces of iron arrows that were already partially corroded. They also discovered remnants of coarse fabric, probably from an arrow quiver. Traces of charred wood, probably from the bow, were found between the archer's shin bones.

The buried man had animal bones and an iron knife near his right foot. "As far as horse burials are concerned, we encounter them here and there not only at Slavic hillforts, for example in Pohansko near Breclav, but also at burial sites such as Olomouc-Nemilany. But the grave of a horseman-archer is quite unique. This raises a number of questions about the historical role and perhaps even the supra-regional importance of Držovice in the early Middle Ages," said Fojtík.

This is not the first time that archaeologists have come across skeletal remains in the former Držovice brickyard. Skeletal graves on the site were discovered as early as the end of the nineteenth century, between 1896 and 1902...

Sources: www.drzovice.cz, www.denik.cz, Institute of Archaeological Heritage Care in Brno