Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a medieval knight buried under a closed ice cream parlour in the Polish city of Gdansk.
Experts have been working on the historic śródmieście (city centre) district site since 2023 and first discovered a medieval tombstone decorated with sculpture images of knights, according to a statement from Polish archaeological company Archeoscan sent to CNN on Tuesday.
The tombstone was then lifted at the beginning of July, revealing the full skeleton of an adult man believed to have lived around the 13th or 14th century.
The discovery is “exceptional importance” and “one of Poland’s most important archaeological discoveries in recent years,” says archaeologist Sylwia Kurzyńska, director of Archeoscan.
The tombstone is made from the highly acclaimed Gotland limestone in the Middle Ages, depicting night sports chain mail armor and mail leggings with swords and shields.
The slab is about 150 cm long (4’11 inches) and despite the fact that it is partially damaged, we still know the important details of the artwork.
“The gravestones are carved from soft limestone and are very well preserved given that they have lies underground for centuries,” Kruzisska said.
“The knight is shown to stand upright with a raised sword, a stance that symbolizes the rise in authority and social status,” she added.
This marks gravestones from the majority of late medieval tomb art, according to Kurzyńska, that tended to be confined to engraved inscriptions, coat of arms panels, or Christian crosses.
“Only a small percentage of the deceased included portrayals, of which most were simplified sculptures on flat slabs designed for use in church floors,” she added.
It is also unusual in that both the artwork and its archaeological context remain intact.
After lifting the stone, archaeologists discovered the body of a man standing between 170 and 180 cm (5’7″ -5’11”). This is much larger than the medieval average, according to Kurzyńska.
The bones were naturally placed and confirmed that the tombstone marked the original burial site, and preliminary analysis showed “good preservation,” she said.
“While no tomb products were found, all available evidence suggests that the deceased is a person of high social status, perhaps especially a knight or commander of high respect and respect,” Kruziska said.
The grave was part of almost 300 burial cemeteries homes and was attached to Gdansk’s oldest known church.
The church was built from oak, which was found to have been cut down in 1140, and was located at an early medieval base of the profession from the late 11th century to the early 14th century to the early 14th century, according to the statement.
“This was a place of power, faith and burial. It was a space of symbolic and strategic importance in Gdansk’s history,” Kurziskka said.
The latest discoveries “provide an invaluable source of knowledge about life and death on the military elites of Gdansk in the 13th and 14th centuries, medieval funeral traditions, and cultural connections across Balcon,” she added.
Experts are currently working on further analysis of both gravestones and skeletons.
Stone slabs are washed and stabilized, documented and 3D scanned to allow for digital reconstruction of missing fragments, but the skeleton undergoes anthropological and genetic analysis to reveal more about the knight’s life, with facial reconstruction performed based on the skull.
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