Historic discovery in Nis: Children's skeletons, hundreds early Christian graves found under torn down house

More than a hundred graves from the late antiquity have been discovered in Pantelejska Street in Serbia's southern town of Nis, as a plot of land was being prepared for construction of a residential building, after a house that previously stood there was torn down.

Aleksandar Aleksic, an archeologist from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in Nis, admits that he is surprised by this amount of archaeological material and that a lot of what was found at this location is still a mystery that scientists will have to deal with after the excavation is complete.

"Early this year, there were changes in the legal status of archaeological sites, which practically means that the approach to the protection of archaeological heritage is changing. Before approving a (building) project, it is necessary to conduct archaeological exploration with the aim of collecting data to prescribe the conditions for the protection of the discoveries, in the process of the planned construction. For this reason, in Pantelejska Street in the Jagodin Mala settlement, we are carrying out excavations in the area of a late antiquity or early Christian site of a Naisus (the Roman name for Nis) necropolis," he told Telegraf.rs. and added:

"What we have found here are over a hundred burial units from the 4th and 5th centuries, spread on about 500 square meters that we have opened. There we have 13 brick tombs, fiver egular graves, four vaulted ones, one belonging to a new type of tombs, and we also found a large number of items. These are primarily personal belongings of the deceased, small glass vessels that were used during the funeral, and jewelry. There are no tomb offerings because Christianity, unlike some other religions, does not approve of objects meant for the afterlife to be buried with the deceased."

Aleksic stressed that the significance of the necropolis in Jagodin Mala is the direct connection with Emperor Constantine, who recognized Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire (and was born in Naisus, i.e., Nis).

"Thanks to the Edict of Milan, Christians were allowed to profess their faith freely and to be buried in accordance with the customs of that religion. Ancient Naisus was one of the cities where early Christianity was first accepted, and that is why we have different types of burial complexes created in different periods, from free burials, which are the fewest in this place, burial cists, but also a large number of brick graves and tombs," says Aleksic.

The exploration campaign at this site will be completed this week, but many questions will remain unanswered.

"We cannot fully explore this area because there are many surprises that we will not be able to deal with adequately. Starting with the fact that no one expected such a large number of burial units, then we see for the first time what a necropolis arranged 'in rows' looks like. The burial plot is organized in a clearly established order on a large area. We investigated 80 graves, some are empty for various reasons, we found 75 skeletons and one of the mysteries is that a third of the graves are those of children. Next, we found one burned tomb, it is definitely the grave of a pagan who, it is believed, out of protest, asked to be buried according to pagan customs. Then, a skeleton was found that has an artificially deformed skull, which is characteristic of Germanic tribes, we believe that this was a member of the Gepids who practiced this custom before accepting Christianity. This was a woman and given that she was buried here, she was probably baptized," said Aleksic.

He explains that this site is only a part of the so-called Jagodin Mala Necropolis.

"Based on the findings we have collected over the last 130 years, we have determined the area of the site with considerable precision, we assume that it is located from the former Nitex factory to Tvrdjava (Nis Fortress), then to the bank of the Nisava River and northward to the gate of the Church of Saint Panteleimon," Aleksic said.

When asked by Telegraf's journalist what will happen to the site after the archeological work is completed in a few days, he said that their task is to document the site and that the rest is not their job, as the authorities will decide on that.

At the site, we also came across Tanja Miladinovic, the owner of the plot, who said that, like every other Nis resident, she was glad about the valuable discovery, but that it created a big headache for her.

"We gave the plot to the investor to build a residential building, he obtained permits, tore down our house and then we all found ourselves in a problem. This is all nice, but now we are subtenants, without jobs, not knowing what will happen next. The investor is also in trouble, he invested a lot of money, I don't understand how he was given the permit if he can't build. I believe that the findings should be moved somewhere where they would be accessible to tourists, especially schoolchildren, to learn something new about Christianity, while what was planned should be built here and we should get our apartment," concluded Miladinovic.

(Telegraf.rs)