An exciting find for archaeologists in Hungary - an exceptionally a well-preserved Roman sarcophagus.

Inside, they discovered a complete skeleton and numerous artefacts, including glass vessels, and belongings of the deceased under a roughly four-centimetre-thick layer of mud.

Lead archaeologist Gabriella Fényes notes the careful burial, suggesting the woman was loved by her relatives. The discovery highlights the social status and burial practices of the time, offering a glimpse into ancient Roman life.

The sarcophagus was found in September during a large-scale excavation in Budapest’s northern district of Óbuda that once formed part of Aquincum, a bustling Roman settlement on the Danube frontier.

Fényes says: "The peculiarity of the finding is that it was a hermetically sealed sarcophagus. It was not disturbed previously, so it was intact. Since it was inside the ground and ruins of the former building collapsed onto the sarcophagus, it could not be plundered later. We even found the iron clips securing the lid of the sarcophagus to the bottom part, and a lead for securing those iron clips. So as it was expected, at the opening of the sarcophagus there was the one who was buried, more precisely a skeleton, and all the items which had given by the relatives to the deceased to her eternal journey.”

The coffin lay among the ruins of abandoned houses in a quarter of Aquincum vacated in the 3rd century and later repurposed as a burial ground.

Nearby, researchers uncovered a Roman aqueduct and eight simpler graves, but none approaching the richness or pristine condition of the sealed tomb.

Keeping with Roman funerary customs, the sarcophagus held an array of objects: two completely intact glass vessels and other smaller items that once belonged to the deceased.

They included a bone hair pin, a piece of amber jewellery and traces of gold-threaded fabric. The size of the skeleton pointed to them belonging to the skeleton of the young woman.

Anthropologists will now examine the young woman’s remains, a process expected to reveal more about her age, health and origins.

But the scientists say even now, the grave’s placement and abundance of artefacts offer strong clues.

AP video by: Bela Szandelszky