Czech archaeologists discover Migration Period burial place

PRAGUE, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Czech archaeologists have discovered a unique burial site from the Migration Period in Prague, the largest burial grounds of this period unearthed in Europe so far, Milan Kucharik and Jiri Vavra, heads of the four-year "well concealed" research project said on Tuesday.

The uncovered burial site contained 177 graves in which the archaeologists found, apart from human remains, also ceramic vessels, glass goblets, golden and silver jewelry as well as the remains of iron instruments, the Czech news agency CTK said.

The finds are unique because such graves were usually plundered already at the time of their use, often shortly after the bodies were buried, Kucharik and Vavra said.

From the scientific point of view, the most important is the size of the unearthed burial place as so far archaeologists believed that burial sites of this period only contained up to 30 graves, CTK said.

The furnishing of the graves also testifies to lively contacts of the population with Roman provinces in western, southern and eastern Europe.

Apart from the unique burial place, the archaeologists also discovered a Neolithic settlement dating back farther than the burial place.