Prof. Szczurowski examines bones found in the Świdnica Cathedral

In August this year, during some work in the basement of the Baroque part of the Świdnica Cathedral preparing burial sites for local bishops, workers broke through a wall and came across an additional room.

This was the crypt under the chapel, where a tin sarcophagus from the 17th century, beautifully decorated with polychrome, was found (Count Georg von Schlick, an Austrian commander during the Thirty Years' War, was buried there) and an ossuary.

– This crypt most likely served for many years as a room where bones were moved. We just don't know from where: whether from elsewhere in the church or from the cemetery next to it. In the crypt, we found numerous postcranial skeletal bones and 17 skulls. As of today, we know that they belong to 38 people in total. Among them are three children. One of them died in the perinatal period – reports Prof. Jacek Szczurowski of the UPWr Anthropology Department, and says that further research will be conducted mainly on the skulls found.

– We will determine the sex of these people and their age at the time of death, and in the next step analyse their biological state. From the traces on the bones, we will find out whether they were ill, what they ate, and whether they worked hard. We will learn, as we hope, something more about the society of Świdnica at that time – says the UPWr scientist, adding that this information will also allow us to answer the question of where the bones came from in the crypt. At the time, not everyone was able to be buried in a church, let alone in a crypt.

Prof. Szczurowski has been asked by the Lower Silesian Regional Monuments Conservator to assist in the research. – I can’t rule out that when such a need arises, the team currently working on the find will be expanded to include other scientists from the UPWr Department of Anthropology – says the professor.

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