The medieval period was already more than 500 years ago, and yet its remnants can still be found everywhere. The latest of this is the remains of a soldier from that period that archaeologists and divers found in Lake Asveja in eastern Lithuania.
For centuries, his remains lay hidden beneath the mud of the lake not until recently it was discovered during an underwater inspection of the old Dubinglai Bridge.
Mysterious Death of a Soldier
The remains of the soldier and his weapons were buried under a layer of mud, about 30 feet (9 meters) deep in Lake Asveja. However, archaeologists clarified that the place where the soldier was found was not a burial site.
Archaeologist Elena Elena Pranckėnaitė, a researcher with Klaipėda University in Klaipėda, Lithuania, told Baltic News Service (BNS) that it is most likely that the soldier was covered with mud over time due to water currents that deposited the sediments.
Experts from the Faculty of Medicine At Vinilinius University examined the remains of the soldier and found that the skeleton belongs to a man who died in the 16th century. But they said that the cause of his death is still unknown.
His case is a very unique one, the archaeologists said. Together with is also his personal belongings, which include a sword, well-preserved boots, and two knives. These items found buried with him led researchers to believe that he was a soldier during his time.
Experts continue to study the remains of the medieval soldier in hopes of finding more information and understand how his remains ended up there. The researchers also noted that the bottom of the Lithuanian lake, Lake Asveja, has been intermittently explored by divers and archaeologists using underwater archaeological methods for over 20 years now, since 1998.
According to Pranckėnaitė, this is the first time that a soldier from the medieval period has been discovered in the Lithuanian lake after years of excavating human burials linked to warfare across the region.
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Possibly Linked To a Bridge to Dubingiai Castle
According to Science Alert, Dubingiai Bridge was built in 1934 was one of the longest wooden bridges still in use in Lithuania, is currently under renovation which entails replacing its old wooden beams with metal poles, according to representatives of TEC Infrastructure which is the company supervising its repair.
But history suggests that there was another bridge in the region before the Dubingiai Bridge was built. It is said that the bridge was around during the 16th-17th century, which is the time when the medical soldier died, Pranckėnaitė said.
She added that the soldier was indeed mysterious, but for now, it is assumed that his death may have been linked to the former bridge that leads to Dubingiai castle, located at the hilltop of Lake Asveja.
The team is now working to conserve and interpret their discovery. Pranckėnaitė said that they hope to tell the story of the medieval soldier at least in a year as its remains and weapons are currently carefully analyzed.
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