A Roman-era child's grave containing an intact sarcophagus with the remains of what is believed to be a young boy has been discovered by archaeologists during excavations in the city of Constanta, in a find described by specialists as 'Europe's archaeological discovery of the moment'.

Archaeologist Constantin Bajenaru said on Wednesday, at a press conference organised by the Museum of National History and Archaeology (MINA) Constanta, that the discovery was 'exceptional and extremely rare' for the ancient city of Tomis.

'The sarcophagus was located very close to an ancient road. And this was an extremely important road connecting Tomis to Histria. (...) The sarcophagus is situated near other graves that we excavated opposite the discovery site, confirming that we are in an area that very probably belonged to an important family. Why? Because another, shall we say, rather unusual grave was also discovered in this area about four or five years ago. It was made of brick but, unfortunately, had been destroyed by a pit dug during the interwar period. And when we put all these pieces together, we are not excavating simply for the sake of finding things. We also plot them on a map and try to reconstruct the history of this city from the earliest times to the present day. (...) The sarcophagus is small, and that makes this a rare discovery. Small sarcophagi used for the burial of children are extremely rare, and we have never found anything like this here before,' Bajenaru said.

Archaeologist Ana Hamat also stressed that this was the kind of discovery 'you rarely see in a lifetime', perhaps occurring only once every generation or two.

'This is a child's grave, found virtually undisturbed, inside a sealed, intact sarcophagus that has preserved a great deal of information. (...) This little child from Tomis will be very, very carefully looked after and will probably be put on display in the future, once the analyses have been completed. And it certainly offers a window into life some 1,800 years ago, so to speak. It is extraordinarily rare to find such a window. To give the general public a comparison, you encounter something similar when you visit the famous Italian cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. We are not fortunate enough to have an untouched city at Tomis, but we do have these windows into the past. (...) At this point, I think I can say, without wishing to boast, that at least yesterday [the sarcophagus was discovered on Tuesday], this was probably Europe's archaeological discovery of the moment,' Hamat said.

MINA Constanta director Delia Cornea said the archaeological discovery had generated considerable excitement among specialists in Romania and abroad.

'There has been tremendous excitement among specialists and colleagues from other museums and research institutions. We have received many messages of congratulations, including from colleagues abroad,' Cornea said, announcing that European specialists researching the history of the Roman Empire would gather in Constanta in two years' time.

'Very recently, together with my colleagues, we extended an invitation in Udine to host the Congress on the Danubian Provinces here in Constanta in two years' time. So European specialists whose research focuses on the history of the Roman Empire will gather here in Constanta. And this discovery once again confirms the standing of Tomis and the outstanding work carried out by all my colleagues,' the MINA Constanta representative said.

On 27 October, specialists from the Museum of National History and Archaeology Constanta discovered a Roman-era child's grave during preventive archaeological excavations in the Flamanda area of the city.

A MINA Constanta team comprising conservators, restorers and archaeologists took part in the opening of the sarcophagus on Tuesday, revealing that the child had been buried in a wooden coffin.

According to museum representatives, archaeologists Constantin Bajenaru and Catalin Nopcea had identified the possibility of an intact sarcophagus as early as 22 October 2026. It was subsequently excavated and transported to a museum storage facility.

'The grave goods recovered by specialists consist of several bronze dress accessories, clay toys and flower garlands. Based on initial observations, specialists date the discovery to the 2nd-3rd centuries AD. The grave was identified on the northern edge of the Tomis necropolis, near an important ancient road. Although our research is still at an early stage, we consider this an important discovery, primarily because the sarcophagus has survived intact, as have the undisturbed grave goods, which provide valuable information about funerary practices in Roman-era Tomis,' MINA said following the discovery. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Nona Jalba; EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)