Archaeologists working along the construction of one of Poland’s speedways near Nadarzyn, South-West of Warsaw, Poland, have unearthed remains of around 3000 individuals when the construction cut through a former graveyard.

The researchers have unearthed the remains, along with numerous belongings such as coins, rings, beads, and  portraits working at a site by the church of St Klemens in Nadarzyn at the Paszków-Przeszkoda section of the S8 speedway. During two months of fieldwork archaeologists were able to unearth and exhume remains of around 3000 individuals. It is estimated that the graveyard  by the church contained burials created between 17th and 19th centuries.

The researchers state that the individuals were placed in single graves and clusters of bones placed without any order. Due to the long period of usage of the area, many graves were dug into older ones. The skeletal remains were cleaned and analysed, after which they were buried at the cemetery after a mass in the parish church in Nadarzyn.

Among the artefacts found during the excavations are many pieces of grave goods, including tens of coins, beads of necklaces, rings, a key, fragments of clothes from the coffins, scapulars and religious medallions, as well as portraits made on pieces of tin. All of the excavated materials are to undergo further research and will be a subject of a scientific publication.

(after GDDKiA & TVN Warszawa)