20. 5. 2019 The grave of a Celtic warrior in Dubany

Archaeologists hardly find any graves from the Latin period, which is why the find in Dubany in Pardubice was truly exceptional. They found a 2200-year-old grave of a Celtic warrior there. In addition to a nearly complete skeleton, it also contained an iron sword and several bronze rings.

The Celts buried the warrior around the third century BC. The grave was damaged by machinery. Because the bones were relatively well preserved, scientists were able to carry out expert analyses.

"In laboratory conditions, scientists will therefore examine, for example, teeth and tartar, which may contain information about the composition of the buried individual's diet as well as where he lived. Furthermore, a complete anthropological analysis will be carried out, which will tell us more about the age, gender and physical condition of the long-dead warrior. We will also have radiocarbon dating carried out, which may refine the dating of the find," Tomáš Zavoral, head of the museum's archaeology department, said at the time.

The discovery of such a grave is rare. According to archaeologist Tereza Jošková, only two separate graves have been registered in Pardubice in the last ten years, in the Chrudim region and in Mikulovice. "We estimate the age of the grave to be more than 2,200 years, i.e. approximately to the 3rd century BC," the archaeologist added.

Inside the grave, there was also a rich grave goods. The warrior was buried with an iron sword sheathed at his right hip. There were also several bronze rings in the grave, which were originally part of the belt on which the sword was hung.

The warrior was also buried with a spear, which, according to Jošková, was placed in a rather non-standard way. "The spear blade was atypically located at the feet and also on the right side of the body, and the object had been deliberately deformed before it was placed there. This way of storing weapons is somewhat unusual in Celtic graves, more often a combination of a sword on the right side and a spear on the left, with the blade at the shoulders or head," the archaeologist explained.

Celtic graves were also found last year in Kuřim in the Brno region. One of them contained a buried warrior with a preserved sword, while the other contained the remains of a woman with bronze jewellery. In the man's grave, as in Dubany, archaeologists also discovered a spear.

We wrote about the graves found in Kuřim here: Celtic graves in South Moravia

Sources: www.vcm.cz, www.dubany.cz