Archaeologists from the University of Hradec Králové (UHK) found an ancient monumental burial ground during a rescue highway excavation in the Czech Republic.
The ancient long barrow is nearly 620 feet long and 50 feet wide at its largest point, located at the border of the villages Dlouhé Dvory and Lípa in the eastern Bohemia region of the country. It is one of Europe's oldest known funeral monuments, estimated to have been built in the fourth millennium BCE.
Petr Krištuf, a UHK's Department of Archeology professor at the Faculty of Arts, said these mounds are mainly found in northwestern Bohemia and have not yet been reliably documented in Eastern Bohemia. He claimed that the examined specimen represents the longest prehistoric mound in their region and throughout Europe.
On the D35 highway between Plotiště and Sadová, only the posthole and gutter of the long barrow's entrance have been found so far. They discovered two central tombs there. Both were placed on their left side, facing north, and one had a human skeleton and a ceramic vessel offering, while the other included a second human body and five chipped flint items.
"Similar burial mounds in Central Europe usually consist of only one, maximum two, burials. From this point of view, it will be interesting to see how the discovered graves are related to each other and whether they represent the burials of relatives," Krištuf added.
Around 30 more people are buried next to the burial mound. Researchers claimed that the graves were added around the long barrow over time, creating a huge monument to the dead. The team is examining the grave samples to learn more about these burials.
The D35 highway project, which links Liberec with Lipník nad Bečvou, is undergoing construction and repairs.
