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These days, archaeologists from the Faculty of Arts at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen (FF UWB) are examining a circular burial mound near the village of Račiněves in the Litoměřice region. It had a diameter of 8 meters, and beneath the mound lay the so-called rich burial of a prehistoric woman. Scientists date it to between 2,900 and 2,500 BC. "At that time, there were very strict burial rules. We know that men were buried on their right side with their heads facing west, while women were buried on their left side with their heads facing east," explained Petr Krištuf, head of research at the Department of Archaeology at FF UWB.

The woman found was equipped not only with a ceramic amphora and a stone blade, but above all with a rich necklace consisting of several strings of drilled dog teeth and hundreds of flat beads carved from shells. It also included a copper spiral. "Lavish necklaces are rare at this time, as are copper artifacts. They are evidence that the buried woman had a high social status. This is further underscored by the costliness of the burial mound construction," said Petr Krištuf, explaining the significance of the find.

The area around Mount Říp has been in the sights of archaeologists from the Faculty of Arts at the University of West Bohemia for several years. They are investigating the oldest burial monuments, which shaped the local landscape 6,000 years ago. The burial mound of a prehistoric woman lies just a few dozen meters from another long mound, which the same team explored three years ago and which concealed a unique wooden shrine and the exceptional burial of an archer from around 3,900-3,700 BC.

The results of this research were open to the public in August. As part of the Archaeological Summer event, dozens of visitors viewed the site and got a close-up look at the newly discovered exceptional artifacts, which are nearly 5,000 years old.

The research is part of an international project that archaeologists from Pilsen are working on together with colleagues from Charles University, the University of Hradec Králové, and the University of Wrocław. They are primarily interested in the development and perception of ritual sites and what the landscape can reveal about our ancestors. "Current research in Račiněves shows us that in prehistoric times, there were places around Mount Říp that were perceived by people in a completely different way than today. These were sacred places that served to worship ancestors not for one or several generations, but probably for several thousand years. Our research shows that it was mainly important members of the community at that time who were buried in these places," concluded Petr Krištuf on behalf of the entire research team.