Archaeologists excavating the site of a future farmers’ market in the eastern Croatian city of Vinkovci have discovered a rare intact grave amid the ancient Roman necropolis. The news was first reported by Croatia Week.
When the initial discovery of the necropolis was announced in March, Josip Romić, the mayor of Vinkovci, said the graves are believed to be from the 2nd or 3rd centuries CE. Vinkovci was known as Colonia Aurelia Cibalae when it was part of the Roman Empire, and the area of the future open-air market overlaps with Cibalae’s northern necropolis. The ancient city was the birthplace of two Roman emperors, brothers Valentinian I (born in 321 CE) and his successor, Valens (born in 328 CE).
A few months after the March discovery, archaeologists have uncovered the first undisturbed brick grave. It contains one male skeleton and the minimal items he was buried with: an iron object and a fragment of a bronze. Other graves, in contrast, contained items like small glass bottles likely used for perfumes or oils and ornamental brooches called fibulae.
Hrvoje Vulić, director of the Vinkovci City Museum, told Croatia Week that the individual was likely between 40 and 45 years old when he died, and that researchers plan to further analyze the remains for additional data.
