Ancient cemetery discovered burial about 100 children

All remains are arranged neatly in the east-west direction, some have coins in their mouths according to ancient customs.

A group of workers uncovered several human bones while building S19 road in Jezowe, Nisko town, Podkarpackie province, Ancient Origins on June 26. The archaeologists then excavated and found a total of 115 remains, of which 70-80% were children. It is worth noting that some children's remains have coins in their mouths.

Children's remains are neatly arranged in the old cemetery. (Photo: Ancient Origins).

These coins represent the beliefs of the ancients, archaeologist Katarzyna Oleszek said. They are called the obol coins of the dead or the Charon coins, which originated from ancient burial customs before Christian times but were still practiced by Pope Pius IX in the 19th century.

The obol is put into the mouth of the dead before burial. This is a fee or a bribe for Charon, the ferryman responsible for carrying the soul across the river separating the two worlds.

The newly discovered coins in Jezowe were minted from King Sigismund III Vasa, ruled Poland between 1587-1632 and King John II Casimir, ruled from 1648 to 1668. Apart from coins, there are no objects in the tomb. else like a corkscrew, screw, or coffin handle. This shows that burials are very poor, Oleszek said.

The remains are arranged in an east-west direction, laid flat on the back with hands on either side. This is most likely a children's area of ​​the old cemetery. Most of the remains are buried in a private tomb. A tomb containing 4 children but not overlapped but just adjacent. In it, one child is much younger than the other three and is placed on the outermost.

"The arrangement and preservation status of the corpses shows that this is a cemetery of a Catholic church, well-cared for. New graves do not damage the old one, that is, the one who looks after it. their location , " Oleszek said.

Experts will excavate and study the remains and transfer them to a local church to be buried in the cemetery in an original way. Group of 4 children will also be buried together the same.