Archaeologists have uncovered a rare Mesolithic mass burial during gas pipeline construction in Poland. The grave near the village of Orłowo in the north central Inowrocław municipality contained the remains of four people—a man, a woman, and two children—arranged as if embracing each other. The find is estimated to date back to 8000–7000 BCE.
“Four people were buried in the grave: an adult man and an adult woman, with a child aged 7–8 years between them. To the man’s left is a child aged 3–4 years,” said Justyna Marchewka-Długońska, PhD, of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw.
The deceased appear to have been laid to rest facing one another. Archaeologists say with 90 percent certainty that the remains date to the Mesolithic.
If confirmed by radiocarbon dating, this would be the first mass burial from the period discovered in Poland.
Three independent factors point to its antiquity, said Piotr Alagierski, the archaeologist leading the fieldwork. “The first is the geology of the site. Black soil that began to form in Kuyavia 7,000–8,000 years ago dominate in the region. However, during the exploration of the grave, we did not encounter black soil, which is above this site. That is why we conclude that the burial pit must have been excavated before the black soil formed.”
The second clue was a flint tool hidden beneath a child’s skull. “It’s called a core, a chipped fragment of good-quality flint. It was used to make blades and knives; it was a Stone Age multitool. The presence of this tool under the child’s head indicates that it did not get there later and could not have ended up there accidentally,” Alagierski said.
The third factor, he added, is the resemblance to other Mesolithic burials in Scandinavia, France, and Karelia. “We have not had a similar find in Poland yet. However, in similar burials around the world, the arrangement of the deceased bodies is almost identical: slightly bent legs, very familial poses. The deceased appear to be embracing, holding each other. This arrangement of bodies is generally not seen in later periods.”
The cause of death remains unclear. “At first glance, there are no signs of violence on the bones that would indicate that the deceased were killed by another group. Their deaths were likely caused by a sudden event that could have led to hypothermia, for example,” Alagierski said.
DNA analysis will determine whether the four were members of the same family. “The arrangement of the bodies itself suggests this, but we want to confirm this with DNA testing, and confirm the sex of the adults and obtain an indication of the children’s sex, which is very difficult to achieve with immature remains,” Marchewka-Długońska said.
Excavations at the site have been completed, and researchers at the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Sciences of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University are continuing laboratory work. Scientists will reconstruct the skulls, establish the sex and age at death of the adults, and reconstruct the adults’ heights.
Future analyses will also focus on the group’s origins, diet, and early life. “We want to determine where the deceased came from and where they spent the first years of their lives, what their diet was and whether it changed throughout their lives, and even what the children’s first weeks of life were like after birth,” Marchewka-Długońska said.
Ewelina Krajczyńska-Wujec (PAP)
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