Neolithic burial mound uncovered near Żórawina reveals elite warrior with rare necklace
Archaeologists near Żórawina discovered a Neolithic burial mound containing a nearly complete adult male skeleton, a distinctive tooth necklace and weaponry dating to about 2900 BCE.
During the 2024 field season, researchers at a site near Żórawina identified a circular earthwork measuring roughly four metres in diameter, which turned out to be a Neolithic burial mound. Inside the central chamber they uncovered an almost complete skeleton of an adult male, accompanied by fragments of two additional skulls. The grave goods included a striking necklace made of 42 pierced teeth—potentially from wolves, dogs, bears or even humans—augmented with bone discs and amber beads, a flint knife, and a serpentinite battle axe.
The presence of the axe allows a preliminary dating to circa 2900 BCE, linking the mound to the Corded Ware culture that spread across Central and Northern Europe in the third millennium BCE. The elaborate assemblage suggests the interred individual held a prominent role, perhaps as a warrior, hunter or tribal head, while the extra skull fragments may indicate complex funerary rites. Ongoing analyses aim to clarify the relationship between the skulls and the primary burial.
