Medieval ruins hid much older secret — until now. See the surprising find in Slovakia
Scooping up the muddy soil at an excavation site in Slovakia, archaeologists expected to find artifacts from World War II and maybe even a medieval settlement. Yet with each scoop, they inched closer to something much older — and much more surprising.
Archaeologists began surveying a large swath of land near Rimavská Sobota ahead of the construction of an industrial park, the Slovak Heritage Office said in a March 18 news release.
The initial radar survey intended to locate any traces of the WWII battles that had taken place in the area. Sure enough, the survey detected several buried archaeological ruins, officials said.
When archaeologists searched the area with metal detectors, they found ammunition and some fragments of ancient Roman belt buckles — their first clue.
Excavations encountered the waterlogged soil of a long-gone stream bed before slowly unearthing a medieval settlement and — to the team’s surprise — an ancient Roman settlement, officials said.
The 1,900-year-old Roman ruins included several furnaces used for processing iron ore and other evidence of ancient metalworking, archaeologists said. Photos show the charred brown furnaces dug into the ground.
During its peak, the ancient Roman empire’s border ran through modern-day Slovakia, according to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Traces of Roman military fortresses and other defensive fortifications still dot the country.
The medieval settlement found near Rimavská Sobota was occupied from the 11th to 13th centuries, archaeologists said. Photos show some of the wells and pottery vessels dating back at least 700 years.
Archaeologists suspected the medieval settlement was Kľačany, officials said. Kľačany was mentioned in a single document from 1557 and described as an abandoned medieval settlement.
Excavations at the site near Rimavská Sobota are ongoing but expected to end soon. Afterward, artifacts from the dig will be more closely studied.
Rimavská Sobota is a town about 170 miles east of Bratislava and in southern Slovakia near the border with Hungary.
Google Translate was used to translate the news release from the Slovak Heritage Office and article from the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.
This story was originally published April 2, 2024 at 8:15 AM with the headline "Medieval ruins hid much older secret — until now. See the surprising find in Slovakia."
