PEETERRISTI, ESTONIA—ERR News reports that an investigation conducted ahead of a road construction project in northeastern Estonia has identified a possible cemetery in the area of Peeterristi Church, which was built in 1808. Bioarchaeologist Martin Malve of the University of Tartu said the church structure was destroyed in 1944 during World War II. The burials in the church cemetery are thought to date to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including the remains of soldiers killed during World War II battles in the area. “It’s important that we know where the cemetery was and where the church was, so we don’t build a road through the graves,” he explained. Written records suggest that an earlier church may have stood on the site, and so there may be burials dating back to the sixteenth century, he added, although the researchers have found no traces of older graves in the soil. Local tradition indicates that the current highway was constructed over the rubble of the church building. Malve and his team members have also uncovered a section of an old stone road in the area. For more on Estonian archaeology, go to "The First Vikings."
