26.08.2016 change 26.08.2016

Numerous rich burials under the floor of the church in Gniew

Perfectly preserved luxurious garments made of more than a thousand types of silk, prayer books in leather bindings and other hundreds of years old monuments have been found in the St. Nicholas church in Gniew (Pomerania). Researchers summarizes seven years of excavations.

"Such wealth as in the church in Gniew is rarely found even in the tombs of the kings of the West. This is one of the richest finds in the archaeological research conducted to date, relating the church burials in Poland" - explained in an interview with PAP the project leader Prof. Małgorzata Grupa from of the Institute of Archaeology, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń.

She emphasized that the church in Gniew is one of the best studied churches in Poland in terms of burials.

The dead were buried in almost every place below the floor surface: at the entrance, in the nave and the chapels. This practice began 600 years ago, and ended in the beginning of the 19th century. "When we think of burials in a church, we usually imagine crypts. In the case of the church in Gniew it was different - buried people both in crypts, as well as directly under the floor of the church, in coffins" - said Prof. Grupa.

It was the same in many other churches - huge cemeteries were often found under the floors.

The church was used very intensively as cemetery: in some places, archaeologists discovered as many as six layers of burials, which reached 2.5 m below the floor level. Archaeologists initially estimate that there could even be more than a thousand people buried under the floor.

Prof. Grupa noted that wealthy people with high social status were usually buried in churches. But even she was surprised by the scale of riches that accompanied the dead in the church in Gniew. These include very expensive garments of the dead, made of more than one thousand kinds of silk! In turn, the burials of children are exceptionally well equipped with different kinds of wreaths, artificial flowers (such as those made of paper and silk), often on a metal frame, which originally imitated a gold wire.

"The acquisition of treasures is not an end in itself. Our research is intended to present the story of the life of the deceased. After all, archaeology is a science that - through death - tells the story of life" - said Prof. Grupa.

Archaeologist hopes that some of the finds end up on display in the centre of Gniew. In the museum halls of the museum, facts about e.g. the history of numismatics, costumes or medicine related to the discoveries could be presented. "The visitors would be surprised by the wealth of these items that overshadow even those in Gdańsk and Toruń" - he argues.

On the bones of many the deceased archaeologists and anthropologists have found, among other things, traces of syphilis, tuberculosis and caries. This gives them insight into the health of the people of that time.

This year excavations were conducted in the nave, at the entrance to the church. "We were surprised by a large number of graves of children present in this place. Adult were usually buried in this location" - said the archaeologist.

Archaeologists also found the ruins of an older temple that stood in the same place. It was build by pagans at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries. Interestingly, they also buried the dead within the temple. Scientists stumbled upon the graves of children and infants.

Researchers obtained most information about the inhabitants of Gniew from several hundred years ago (living there circa 15th century and later). Local clays contributed to the preservation of their graves in good condition. These soils retain optimal moisture levels, at which monuments, especially organic objects are not subject to fast decay.

After extraction and examination, some of the bones were returned to their resting place under the church floor. During re-burial, the graves are properly labelled: archaeologists leave special plates with information about who and when has conducted research at the site.

"We also place contemporary pennies by the skeletons that one day may help understand what happened in the church at the beginning of the 21st century" - added the archaeologist.

Research in Gniew started in 2009. "The excavations were the easiest part of our project. Not it is time for conservation data processing. We estimate that we need a decade for this" - said Prof. Grupa.

The project was carried out with financial support from the municipality of Gniew. Archaeologists were invited by the local pastor, Zbigniew Rutkowski. He asked to conduct research that would precede major renovation of the temple.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland, Szymon Zdziebłowski

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