(ORDO NEWS) — A seventeenth-century grave of a woman with a sickle around her neck and a triangular lock on her left toe was discovered in Pien (Dąbrowa Chełmińska commune) by archaeologists from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń.
The discovery was made on August 30 by a research team led by Professor Dariusz Poliński. The expedition also included anthropologist Alicia Drozd-Lipinska and Lukasz Czyzewski, responsible for measurements, documentation and photogrammetry.
The project combined scientific research with the rescue, (protection) of the discovered cemetery and the popularization of science. It was attended by employees of the Institute of Archeology of the NKU, volunteers and residents of the village.
“The originality of this discovery lies in the amazing combination of three elements: a sickle and a padlock, which have a symbolic meaning dating back to folk beliefs, and at the same time, the presence of a headdress made of silk intertwined with silver or gold. a thread.
The last element testifies to the high social status of the buried woman,” said Magdalena Zagrodska, a representative of the research team.
As she explained, a sickle with a blade around the neck and a triangular padlock on the big toe of the left foot, symbolizing the closure of a certain stage of life, could protect against the return of the deceased, who was probably feared.
In this context, these practices can be seen as anti-vampire. “So far, we have never seen a sickle and a lock in the same grave at the same time in the course of research,” said a participant in the study.
According to Zagrodskaya, the woman was buried with great care, with her head resting on a pillow. Next to the skull were the remains of what was most likely a cap tied under the chin. Well-preserved teeth may indicate that she was a fairly young woman.
During the anthropological analysis, Dr. Alicia Drozd-Lipinska will check whether the remains of the deceased bear traces of disease.
Scientists from the Institute of Archeology of the Nicolaus Copernicus University, where the material obtained as a result of the research was transported, will try to unravel other mysteries associated with the discovered burial.
They will check, among other things, whether they put anything in the mouth of the deceased. Other detailed analyzes (including DNA) will be carried out and, possibly, facial reconstruction of the deceased.
It is worth noting that this is not the first significant discovery associated with the study site. In the course of work carried out in 2005-2009, the remains of two cemeteries were discovered: an early medieval one with richly equipped chamber graves (X/XI centuries) and a Protestant necropolis of the 17th century.
“We found, among other things, an atypical burial of a man with a child leaning on his shins crosswise.
We also found a burial of a child with the same triangular padlock as the one found this year,” Zagrodska said.
According to her, further research work is planned at the cemetery in Pena. “The head of the Dombrowa Chelminska commune, who wants to take measures to exclude the territory from agricultural use, assured of his help.
There is also talk about using this direction in the context of popularizing knowledge about early medieval and modern burial practices,” summed up the representative of the research group.
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