Sisters Buried in a Sacred Mine Tell a Haunting Prehistoric Story todayheadline

Deep beneath a forest slope in southern Moravia, Czechia, archaeologists have uncovered one of the most mysterious burial sites in prehistoric Europe.

In a Late Neolithic chert mining shaft known as Shaft No. 4, researchers discovered the skeletal remains of two adult women and a newborn. Far from a typical grave, this site reveals a powerful story of kinship, hardship, and perhaps ritual sacrifice. According to a new study published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, the women were likely sisters, physically overworked, and possibly buried as part of a sacred tradition tied to the ancient mining practices of the Krumlov Forest.

A Ritual Resting Place Below Ground

The Krumlov Forest contains one of Europe’s largest prehistoric chert mining fields, used from the Mesolithic to the Early Iron Age. Shaft No. 4, over six meters deep, preserved two well-preserved adult female skeletons—one laid above the other—with a newborn positioned on the chest of the lower individual. A dog skull was also found near the upper skeleton.

Radiocarbon dating placed the burial between 4340 and 4050 BC, aligning with the Late Lengyel culture at the dawn of the Eneolithic. This was a time of rising social complexity and shifting gender roles in Central Europe.

What the Bones Reveal

Anthropologists conducted a thorough analysis of the skeletons, combining traditional osteological methods with genetic, isotopic, and microscopic techniques. Key findings include:

• Both adult women were between 30 and 40 years old and unusually short, standing about 146–148 cm tall.
• Genetic testing confirmed they were biological relatives, likely sisters.
• Neither woman was the mother of the newborn, whose remains suggest full-term development but unknown parentage.
• Evidence of heavy physical labor was etched into their spines, joints, and muscle attachments.
• Signs of childhood malnutrition and repeated illness were present in the form of Harris lines and enamel hypoplasia.

Despite early-life deprivation, both women later consumed more meat than typical for Neolithic populations in Central Europe. Isotope analysis showed a diet rich in animal protein, perhaps due to their role as laborers in the chert mine.

Mining, Memory, and Meaning

What were these women doing in a mine shaft? The researchers suggest they may have been part of the workforce involved in extracting Jurassic chert for tools. Their skeletal injuries—pseudoarthrosis from an untreated arm fracture, severe spinal degeneration, and early-onset arthritis—point to years of grueling manual labor.

But the burial context also suggests something more symbolic. According to archaeologist Martin Oliva, mining sites like this one may have served as ritual landscapes, linking the living with the ancestors below. The shaft itself may have been seen as sacred—a gateway to the underworld.

“It is becoming increasingly clear,” Oliva writes, “that the rise of the social role of males in the Eneolithic… was not always related to the use of their greater physical strength. The hardest labour may no longer have been done by the strongest, but by those who could most easily be forced to do it.”

A Face from the Past

Using 3D facial reconstruction techniques, researchers created lifelike silicone busts of both women. The reconstructions suggest one had light eyes and likely fair hair, while the other had hazel or green eyes. Their clothing was recreated from plant-based textiles typical of the Neolithic: linen blouses, wraps, and woven hairnets. These busts are now part of an exhibition at the Anthropos Pavilion of the Moravian Museum in Brno.

Unfinished Stories

The cause of death for all three individuals remains unknown. There were no fatal skeletal injuries, leaving open the possibility of disease or soft tissue trauma. And the baby—placed so intentionally on the chest of the lower woman—remains an enigma. Was it symbolic? Sacrificial? Or simply a tragic coincidence?

Researchers plan to continue exploring these questions with next-generation DNA sequencing and proteomics. For now, the burial offers a rare and intimate glimpse into prehistoric life, and death, in Central Europe.

Journal: Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences (2025) 17:146

DOI: 10.1007/s12520-025-02251-1

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