A tomb dating back at least 2,500 years old has been unearthed by archaeologists in northern Romania.
Burial mound
The discovery came as archeologists from the Neamt National Museum were doing research work on a burial mound- or tumulus, Dr. Vasile Diaconu, in charge of the excavation told Agerpres on Saturday.
Several structures were observed in a wooded area near the village of Dobreni, according to Alexandru Gafincu, an archaeologist.
In order to establish the age of the tomb, archeologists dug inside the burial mound.
They found a rectangular shape put which had a small clay, crumbly pot in one corner.
Bronze objects
On the opposite side of the pit they identified remnants of burnt human bones, as well as several bronze objects– propeller-shaped needles and a possible shinbone.
They also identified the remains of small beads, most likely made of amber.
Based on the typology of the bronze pieces, Dr. Diaconu said that it can be said that the tomb dated back to the 5th-3rd century BC, maybe even earlier.
“This is a very valuable archaeological discovery, which is testing our patience. It is not easy to manually research a tumulus, and right until the last day we did not find too many .. elements that would give is a chronological timeframe. In fact, in the perimeter where we did the research there are several such mounds that most likely hide burials from ancient times,” he said.
Carpathians
“What is surprising is the presence of those propeller-shaped needles.because they are rare pieces east of the Carpathians and especially because, this is the first discovery of its kind im Neamt County,” said Dr. Vasile Diaconu.
Archaeologists said the discovery will help scientists piece together important information about the funeral customs of the Getae period.
Getae
Between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC, the Getae were mostly under the rule of the Odrysian kingdom. The Getae provided military services and became famous for their cavalry.
After the disintegration of the Odrysian kingdom, smaller Getic principalities began to consolidate themselves.
