5,000-year-old burial with 42-tooth necklace found near Wrocław, Poland

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Key facts

• Stone Age burial mound discovered almost by accident near Żorawina, south of Wrocław in southwestern Poland, during the final days of an excavation of a Roman-period cemetery
• Team led by archaeologist Professor Tomasz Galik of the University of Wrocław with anthropologist Dr. Paweł Drozdowski of Wrocław Medical University
• Burial mound dates to around 2,900 BCE, belonging to the Middle Neolithic Corded Ware culture, named for twisted cord impressions on its pottery
• A necklace made of 42 single-rooted teeth (incisors and canines), each drilled through at the root, was found tightly fitted in a row
• Teeth came from large mammals, likely including wolves or other canids, deer, and possibly a young bear; researchers have not ruled out human teeth, with genetic analysis planned
• Burial contained an adult male skeleton accompanied by amber and bone beads, flint implements described as a knife and small spearhead, and a battle axe of greenish serpentine rock showing signs of real use
• Remains of two additional adult skulls were found with the central burial, possibly placed as ritual deposits or offerings, though further analysis is needed to determine whether the individuals were deliberately decapitated
• Closest comparison is a Bronze Age necklace from Vojtěchov made of four teeth; this example is far earlier and 10 times larger
• A second mound of similar age was discovered a few kilometers away in Ewinów containing a skeleton, two axes, flint artifacts, amber ornaments, and a calf burial possibly representing a graveside sacrifice
• Planned analyses include radiocarbon dating, ancient DNA for ancestry and biological relationships, isotope analysis of strontium, carbon, and nitrogen for diet and mobility, tooth wear study, and X-ray examination of bones

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