Archeologists from Poland’s southern city of Rzeszow have discovered the tomb of a young prince dating back to 6,000 BC at the A4 motorway.

The scientists who were carrying out excavations on the route of the future A4 motorway near Szczytna hoped to find traces of Neolithic settlements but the discovery exceeded their expectations.

“First, we found a copper axe which may have dated back to the Bronze Age. Later, we found other archeological objects, such as copper ornaments: two earrings and a necklace and five vessels: an amphora and four cups. There were also arrowheads and a dozen of flint tools and animal bones, which were funerary gifts,” Monika Hozer, one of the archaeologists who made the discovery, told the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.

Inside the grave the scientists also found fragments of a 6,000-year-old male skeleton laid in a contracted position on the right side. The position is typical for the Corded Ware or Single Grave culture which began in the Stone Age, flourished through the Copper Age and culminated in the early Bronze Age around 4,000 BC.

The ornaments and tools from the prince’s tomb together with other archeological discoveries on A4 motorway route, such as the oldest wooden well in Poland, will be displayed in the Regional Museum in Rzeszow next year. (mg)