Archeologists Unearthed An Artifact In Spain That's Changing What We Know About European History

With the sun’s heat beating down from the sky above them, this team of archeologists in the south of Spain must have been exhausted. Digs are tough business anyway, but the country’s warm climate surely makes things even harder. Luckily, though, all their efforts would soon be vindicated. These people were about to find something in the ground – and none of them could have predicted what it would be.

Roman wonders

The team were working that day on the site of an ancient Roman villa, which had already been subject to archeological investigations in the past. Obviously, these earlier rounds of excavations didn’t uncover everything, and these experts had the wherewithal to keep looking. It was this dedication that, in the end, culminated in the discovery of an elaborate coffin.

Intriguing designs

This ancient sarcophagus was adorned in shapes and patterns – evidently the result of some intricate carving work long ago. But what did all the markings mean, exactly? Were these specific designs significant? Clearly, the researchers needed to work hard and carefully in order to get to the bottom of these questions.

Germanic conquest

The experts eventually managed to trace the coffin back to the sixth century, which was an interesting period in this region of southern Spain. At that time, tribes of Germanic tribes were sweeping through Europe – taking over areas once under the control of the Roman Empire. Often, these people would take existing Roman structures and refashion them for their own uses.

Roman villa

This coffin, then, appeared to represent evidence of this exact situation having once occurred in the area. The site had been home to a Roman villa, but it had gone on to become something else entirely. And this shocked the archeologists, as they weren’t expecting a find quite like this.