Archaeologists have uncovered the graves of two Vandal warriors at an ancient cemetery in Ostrowiec County, Poland. The discovery was made near the village of Glinka, in the Ćmielów commune, in a cemetery believed to date back to the 3rd or 4th century CE. The site is associated with the Przeworsk culture, a group that inhabited present-day central and southern Poland during the Iron Age, spanning from the 3rd century BCE to the 5th century CE.
The excavation, led by Dr. Marek Florek from the Office for the Protection of Monuments in Sandomierz, revealed two pit graves containing cremated human remains. The graves also held the remnants of funeral pyres, indicating that the bodies of the deceased warriors, along with their weapons, were burned as part of a funerary ritual. The discovery sheds light on the ritualistic practices of the Vandals, a tribe known for their clashes with the Roman Empire and their later establishment of a kingdom in North Africa.
“The remains, along with the ashes of the funeral pyre, were carefully placed in the graves—a clear indication of the ritualistic practices associated with Vandal burials,” Dr. Florek told the Polish Press Agency (PAP). The graves contained various weapons and artifacts, including swords, spearheads, shield elements, and personal items like iron scissors and fragments of burnt clay vessels. The metal objects bore traces of what Dr. Florek called “fire patina,” evidence that they had been exposed to high heat during the cremation process.
One of the most striking finds was the discovery of bent swords. This practice, commonly associated with the Przeworsk culture, served a dual purpose: it was believed to allow the deceased to carry their weapons into the afterlife while also making the weapons unusable to deter grave robbers. Dr. Florek explained that “bending the weapon, thus symbolically ‘killing’ it, ensured that the deceased could take it with them to the afterlife, so it could serve them there as it had on earth.” This custom reflects both the spiritual beliefs and practical concerns of the time.
The artifacts uncovered in the graves suggest that the individuals buried were warriors of high status within the Vandal tribe. Among the items found were swords, spearheads, umba (metal reinforcements for shields), and fragments of burnt clay vessels. These objects will undergo careful preservation and analysis before being displayed at the Castle Museum in Sandomierz, a major cultural institution in the region.
Dr. Florek noted that similar Roman-period cemeteries often contain hundreds of graves. For example, the nearby cemetery in Chmielów, also in Ostrowiec County, has yielded over 150 graves during previous excavations. “At this point, we don’t know the size of this cemetery,” Dr. Florek said, hinting at the potential for further significant finds. Future excavations are planned for the fall of this year and the spring of 2025.
