Human remains found in a 1,000-year-old cemetery were ceremonially adorned with buckets on their feet and rings around their necks, archaeologists discovered, say reports.
The mass grave holding over 107 skeletons in what is believed to be a pagan-era cemetery were discovered near Kyiv, Ukraine.
The mysterious burial site provided a glimpse into the Dark Ages, the 1,000 years of European history between the fall of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Italian Renaissance.
Axes, swords, spears, jewelry, bracelets, and food offering remains such as eggshells and chicken bones were also discovered alongside the unearthed bones of the long-forgotten people.
Researchers Vsevolod Ivakin and Vyacheslav Baranov, who led the excavation, described the weapons typical for Kyivan Rus and northeastern Europe.
Vyacheslav Baranov | National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
A stone altar found at the site could have been used for pagan or early Christian rituals.
Ivakin and Baranov presented their findings at the Archaeological Institute of America annual meeting in Chicago in early January, Live Science reported.
The researchers said the graveyard contained both male and female skeletons, but that only females were adorned with elaborate neck rings, which “were apparently a kind of social marker,” said Ivakin and Baranov, per Live Science.
Vyacheslav Baranov | National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
The wooden buckets on the feet found in some of the male graves — which may have been part of funerary rituals — are reminiscent of 11th-century Prussian cremation and Pomeranian and Masovian inhumation cemeteries of military elites, the Independent reports.
Some artifacts are similar to those uncovered in the Baltics, Live Science reports. Volodymyr the Great ruled territories that extended to the Baltics.
The findings speak to a religious shift in Ukrainian history and the arrival of Christianity in Eastern Europe.
Baranov told Business Insider that the findings date back to the late Viking Age, a period during which the territory of Ukraine was involved in common North European processes.
He said the findings “correspond well with the pan-European historical processes in Europe, and once again show the importance of studying the pan-European history as a whole and European peoples in the general context.”
He added that the nature of such a small and closed group was rare for its time.
At the time of the cemetery’s use, the people of the Ukraine region were undergoing a conversion to Christianity, most notably documented by the baptism of Volodymyr the Great around 987, when he converted from his ancient pagan beliefs.
The archaeological project in Ukraine began in 2017. Research continued in 2022 and 2023 despite the challenges posed by the war. Baranov told BI that several of the regular members of the expedition had already been killed in battle and that others were on the frontlines after being mobilized. The dwindling numbers have hindered the excavation process.
The ongoing research is a collaboration between several research centers, with funding provided by the German Research Foundation, alongside other organizations.
