Lithuanian archaeologists excavating the site of the Saint John’s Church of Klaipėda have unearthed a burial site, ceramic fragments and coins dating back to the 18th century.
A team of archaeologists from Klaipėda University has been digging on the site for a month, and discovered 57 burials.
“We have a special grave and a coffin, which was then decorated with fabric on the top, and pinned down using several hundred small pins, “ said Raimonda Nabažaitė, head of the research group. “There are ornamented wooden parts inside the coffin, they are very fragmented, but show that this particular person was buried with extraordinary decorations.”
Saint John’s Church in Klaipėda was destroyed and rebuilt twice, before being taken down again during the Second World War. There are plans to rebuild the house of prayer.
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“What was built prior to the church period was founded [...], because it is natural that some destruction would have taken place while building the church,” said Nabažaitė. “But we have these relics, we have also discovered a pit where residents would throw their waste.”
The team also found shards of tiles and ceramic objects, animal bones, and various coins.
“Pennies, shillings, we can say that those were coins of smallest denomination, so it wasn’t much of a loss for the people to drop them,” according to archaeologist Monika Rapkevičiūtė-Lisauskienė.
The coins date back to the 18th century.
According to historical data, coffins of one family were stored in an underground basement, however, no such tunnels were found yet. Moreover, historical sources say that the church funder’s wife was buried by the altar.
The remains will be transported to Vilnius for further examination.
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