A new study of the only complete wooden sarcophagus of the Roman Iron Age, the burial of Princess Bugicz, has resolved the debate about its age and revealed new information about the deceased.
The coffin was discovered in 1899 near the village of Bagicz in northwestern Poland when it literally fell off a cliff on the Baltic Sea coast, exposed by erosion. It contained the remains of an adult woman with a bronze fibula, a bone pin, a pair of bronze bracelets and a necklace of glass and amber beads. The burial was preserved in sandy soil filled with less oxygenated water for about 2,000 years. Apart from the coffin, organic materials including wooden stools and pieces of woolen cloth and bovine hides survived in excellent condition. Unfortunately, those elements did not survive World War II.
Due to her fine grave goods and burial location in an isolated location overlooking the sea, she was considered to be of very high social status at the time, earning her the title of Princess of Begs. Later discoveries in the vicinity revealed that her burial was in fact part of a larger Iron Age cemetery, so she was not at the level of an aristocratic “princess”, although certainly a wealthy woman.
The coffin and its lid were made from a hollow oak trunk, a burial style typical of the Iron Age Welbark culture (1st to 4th century AD). Only traces of original log coffins are found in these burials, making the princess a unique survivor from the Roman Iron Age in Poland.
The burial has been extensively studied since its discovery. About 30 bones survive today, including his skull, which has been blackened for centuries in his log coffin. Osteological analysis showed that she was between 25 and 30 years old when she died and was about 145 cm (4’9″) tall. Despite her young age, she suffered from osteoarthritis in the lower spine, which suggests that she did heavy manual labor.
The question of the date of burial has been debated in scholarship for decades. A 2018 radiocarbon analysis returned an approximate date range of 160 BC to 50 AD, well earlier than the suggested date of the artifacts in his tomb. 110-160 AD The researchers in this study hypothesized that this discrepancy could be due to an error in the C14 measurement that can sometimes occur when the deceased was on a diet rich in fish. Stable isotope analysis of his teeth found no trace of Baltic fish, only a variety of animal protein that could have included freshwater fish.
To better understand the dating discrepancies, a dendrochronological analysis was performed in 2024. The results showed that the oak tree from which his coffin was made was felled around 120 AD (±7–8 years). This indicates that archeological typological dating was more accurate than radiocarbon dating.
The researchers speculate that diet or environmental factors, including the effect of deposits, the effect of water hardening, or both, may affect the radiocarbon dates.
Aquifers are affected by fish or organisms using aquatic food sources that have lower C14 levels than the atmosphere. This can result in false aging, making content appear older than it is. Hard Water Effect – Using organisms that live in hard water to artificially age C14 results. However, this possible explanation of the radiocarbon dates contradicts the results of the research team’s strontium isotope analysis. They found that its place of origin is Åland, Sweden, but there is no deposit impact documented in the archaeological remains of the area.
The results of the research have been published in the journal Archaeometryavailable for subscribers or pay-to-play here.
