A Roman sarcophagus that still looks as it did 1,700 years ago has been found in Budapest, giving archaeologists a rare glimpse into the life of a young woman from the time of the Roman Empire.
The limestone coffin was uncovered in Óbuda, the northern part of the city that once housed Aquincum, a busy Roman town on the Danube frontier. Excavators from the Budapest History Museum were led by Gabriella Fényes, who said the tomb was “hermetically sealed.”
The stone lid stayed in place for centuries, protected by metal straps and a layer of molten lead, and when the lid was lifted the skeleton inside lay surrounded by dozens of objects—glowing artifacts that the woman’s family had left for her journey into the afterlife.
The grave contains intact glass vases, bronze figurines, a bone hair pin, an amber bead, and traces of gold‑threaded fabric. It also holds 140 Roman coins. The small size of the skeleton, the gender‑specific hair pin, and the fine clothes all point to a young woman of status. “They buried her carefully,” Fényes told reporters, adding that the careful treatment reveals how much her family loved her.
Dirty mud found inside the sarcophagus is still being sifted out; the hope is that it will reveal additional jewelry or personal items that were hidden in the coffin.
Archaeologists are preparing to examine the skeleton. They expect to learn her age at death, her health, and perhaps where she came from. The site itself is part of the former Roman province of Pannonia, an important military zone just a mile from the Danube. Nearby, earlier diggers uncovered an aqueduct and a dozen simple graves, but none matched the richness of this sealed tomb.
“This kind of find is really rare,” said project co‑leader Gergely Kostyál. “It indicates she was well‑to‑do or of higher social status.”
The discovery is more than a scientific curiosity; it offers an emotional window into how people in ancient times expressed care and devotion when they buried loved ones. As Fényes said, “I was very touched seeing the love and respect the family showed. It makes us reflect on how hard it must have been for those people to bury her.”
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