Child’s Sarcophagus Discovered in Romania

News October 29, 2026

Child's skeleton in a wooden coffin within a Roman sarcophagus
Museum of National History and Archaeology in Constanța
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CONSTANTA, ROMANIA—Romania Insider reports that an intact Roman sarcophagus has been uncovered in the necropolis on the edge of the ancient city of Tomis, on Romania’s Black Sea coastline. Archaeologists from Romania’s Museum of National History and Archaeology in Constanța said that the burial belonged to a young child. Inside the sarcophagus, the researchers found a well-preserved wooden coffin, clothing, a coin, a clay toy in the shape of a rooster with a rattle, two pendants, and traces of floral garlands. The burial was close to a road that connected the Roman city with the fortress of Histria. The location of the sarcophagus could therefore help researchers understand the extent of the necropolis and how burials were arranged along the thoroughfare. To read about a bizarre artifact uncovered at a Roman settlement in central Romania, go to “Herculean Hilarity.”

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