5th c. skeleton found hiding in giant jar

The skeletal remains of man who appears to have sought shelter in a dolium, a giant storage amphora, only to be trapped there and die, have been discovered in the ancient town of Deultum, Bulgaria. Archaeologists’ preliminary date of the event is around 400 A.D.

The dolium was discovered in the northern turret of the western gate in Deultum’s Roman walls, built around 300 A.D. It is comparatively small by dolium standards, the largest of which could hold as much as 260 gallons. Only the lower part of it survives, and it is three feet in diameter.

The deceased had two iron knives with him, one clutched in his hand and a smaller one hanging from a ring on his belt. These were apparently for self-defense. They are not the weapons of a professional warrior.

In the 5th century, Deultum was repeatedly attacked by Germanic tribes and Huns. There is evidence of a fire on the dolium and around it, but no evidence that the deceased made any attempt to leave the dolium to save his own skin. He likely suffocated from smoke inhalation. Ashes in the bottom of the amphora suggest the fire was already burning when he climbed inside.

The recent discovery seems to represent one of those “extraordinary circumstances,” Vagalinski said. The team found a significant amount of burned materials around the dolium, including ashes and coals; broken bricks, tiles and shards; blackened walls; melted glass fragments; and bones from domestic animals. The likely scenario is that, upon hearing of an imminent attack, people brought their livestock into the fortress. The archaeologists also found many bronze coins that were probably lost in the chaos. […]

“In any case, he made no attempt to get out of the ceramic vessel,” Vagalinski said. The team determined this based on the individual’s position, similar to that of a sleeping man. “After the attack, the inhabitants of the city leveled the ruins of the tower and covered them with a new, higher floor.” They did not know that a fellow citizen was lying at the bottom of the dolium.

The skeletal remains have now been transferred to Sofia where they will be examined and analyzed in detail by a forensic anthropologist. The archaeological team will return to Deultum next summer to continue to excavate the western gate, including the northern turret.

* This article was originally published here