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Workers building a new highway in Romania have discovered a treasure-filled tomb of a rich warrior and his horse. The tomb dates back to the 5th century AD, when the region was controlled by a people called the Huns.
The tomb is filled with over 100 artifacts, including weapons, gold-plated items, and gold jewelry inlaid with gemstones, Silviu Ene (opens in a new tab) from the Vasile Pârvan Institute of Archeology in Bucharest, Romania, he told Live Science.
Ene is the lead archaeologist investigating the tomb, which was discovered late last year during highway construction near the town of Mizil in southeastern Romania, some 140 miles (220 kilometers) from the Black Sea.
Ene said four separate archaeological sites had been discovered during the construction of the road, and that the tomb of a wealthy warrior – which scientists described as “princely” – was only part of the most complex site.
“This tomb is of great importance because, in addition to its rich inventory, it was discovered at the site along with 900 other archaeological objects – [such as] pits, dwellings and tombs,” he told Live Science in an email.
Related: Where is the tomb of Attila the Hun?
Hun invasion
The ethnicity The Mizil warrior’s body is still unknown, but the rich grave goods suggest that he belonged to the ruling class during the Hunnic period, or “migration age”, when the region was controlled by the Huns, Ene and his colleagues told the outlet. Hungary Posts in English (opens in a new tab).
The Huns were nomadic horsemen who came from Central Asia. In the 4th and 5th centuries AD, they invaded and occupied the far east of Europe, while displacing other peoples – such as Vandals and Ready — from their lands, forcing them to migrate west.
The Huns were a particular problem Byzantine (or Eastern) Roman Empirewhich by then controlled most of the land west of the Black Sea – a region that now includes Romania.
But the Romans lost this region to the Huns, who then invaded the Western Roman province of Gaul (present-day France and western Germany) and even attacked Rome under their leadership Attila the Hunbefore losing their territory in Europe to the mixed forces of the Goths and other former Germanic vassals at the Battle of Nedao – now in Croatia – in 454.
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Princely tomb
Recent archaeological finds at the Mizil tomb included an iron sword in a gilded scabbard, a dagger, bundles of iron arrowheads and decorated bone braces that were once attached to a wooden bow, Ene said.
He noted that the dagger was particularly ornate, with a gold-plated hilt encrusted with precious stones.
Archaeologists also discovered the remains of a gilded saddle, a bronze cauldron, several decorated “sconces” – fittings for holding candles on the wall – and pieces of gold jewelry, he said.
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The complete skeleton of a warrior was found in the tomb, and his face appears to be covered with a golden mask, the remains of which have also been unearthed. However, only his horse’s leg and head have been discovered so far, Ene said.
Archaeologists told Hungary Posts English that the styles of the newly discovered objects suggest they date back to around the 5th century AD, when most of Europe north of the Danube was under Hunnic control.
Excavations at the tomb had to be completed in bad weather, and sometimes with flashlights, in order for the highway project to proceed.
Ene said the archaeological research is now “half done”. Over the next few months, the bones and artifacts will be cleaned, examined and put on public display, and the tomb itself will be built over as part of the highway project.
