Archaeologists Unearth 15 Roman Burials in Zadar as Relja District Sits Atop 3,000 Graves
Updated
Updated · Fox News · May 13
Archaeologists Unearth 15 Roman Burials in Zadar as Relja District Sits Atop 3,000 Graves
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 13
Around 15 Roman-era burials and associated artifacts were uncovered in Zadar’s Relja district, adding a new excavation site beneath one of the Croatian city’s busiest modern neighborhoods.
The graves belong to a necropolis used from the 1st century B.C. to the 5th century A.D., when Roman cemeteries lay outside city walls along major roads and the area was still suburban.
University of Zadar archaeologist Igor Borzić said the burials trace a shift from cremation in the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D. to inhumation later, with grave goods thinning as pagan customs gave way to Christianity.
Finds include glass vessels, ceramic bowls, oil lamps and coins, plus possible prehistoric Liburnian remains, carbonized food or grain from the 2nd or 3rd century, and some 20th-century artifacts from Italy’s occupation of Zadar.
The wider Relja area has already yielded about 3,000 graves, and researchers say laboratory analysis could still reveal the buried population’s origins, diet, health and causes of death.
What secrets about the rise of Christianity are buried with Zadar's 3,000 Roman dead?
How will a modern city manage the vast Roman necropolis discovered beneath its bustling commercial hub?