SARBIA, POLAND—According to a Science in Poland report, archaeologists have found two burials in a barrow in northeastern Poland. Andrzej Michałowski of Adam Mickiewicz University said the graves are thought to be about 2,000 years old and to belong to the Wielbark culture. “The body of the deceased was already in a wooden boat, which she used to take to cross to the other bank of the river… It seemed as if she was napping after work, dressed in her best robes,” Michałowski said. Beads of glass, amber, and bone were found on her chest, and an S-shaped clasp was found at her neck, he added. A box at her feet contained hair pins and weaving tools, including the remains of two distaffs and a set of weights, or spindle whorls, used to keep the threads from sliding as they spun. He thinks the burned remains of a younger woman, who was buried with whorls, a small distaff, and a small S-shaped clasp, may have belonged to the spinner’s apprentice. To read about clay pig figurines found at a Bronze Age hillfort in Maszkowice, Poland, go to "Piggy Playthings."
