Cosmin Florin Dumitrache, a shepherd from Romania’s Prahova County, notified the Prahova County Museum of History and Archaeology after he discovered a skull in the Vârful Scoruș area, at Urlați. The bones turned out to be 5,000 years old years old.
A team of specialists from the museum carried out an archaeological intervention to salvage what turned out to be a prehistoric grave.
“Having received the information, in February of this year we traveled to the Vârful Scoruș area and confirmed the presence of human bones part of a grave affected by minor landslides. A part of the bones (the right leg, ribs) were detached from the skeleton, being in a secondary position. The skull had a white color, which means it had been exposed to light/sun for a long period,” stated the museum representatives on Facebook.
In March, a group of archaeologists from the Prahova County Museum of History and Archaeology, composed of Alin Frînculeasa, Octav Negrea, and Eduard Ghinea, went to the field to investigate the area where the human bones were found. They confirmed the discovery, and noted that the bones in exceptional state of preservation belonged to an adult male who was “laid in the grave according to the burial traditions of prehistoric human communities.”
“The deceased had been placed on his back with the lower limbs bent and the arms alongside the body. The skull was oriented to the east. Near the left arm, there was a stone item almost 20 cm long, which could represent an axe. Two small ceramic fragments were also discovered, which seem to indicate that this hill was inhabited during a period even older than the identified grave,” the specialists said.
The remains were dated to be 5,000 years old, dating back to the Bronze Age.
Last year, the same shepherd discovered human bones at the base of Merez Hill in the locality of Șoimești. There, he found a 500-year-old grave which indicated the possible presence of a settlement.
(Photo source: Muzeul Judetean de istorie si Arheologie Prahova on Facebook)
