For The Post

DOLNÍ BŘEŽANY,

Central Bohemia

It's not often that a murder victim is found in this sleepy hamlet southwest of Prague — especially one that is 2,500 years old.

But Jiří Bernat, an archaeologist and historical detective, believes he's found one, quite by accident, at a site on which a new preschool will soon be built.

Bernat and his team of 15 archaeologists recently excavated a skeleton that dates to the Iron Age.

This area has long yielded treasures — from a Bronze Age farming community called Hradiště nad Závistí to the Oppidum, an advanced settlement of Celts who drove the farmers out in the second century B.C.

But this latest find is different — and a little darker.

"It's the first complete human skeleton from the Hradiště period found in this area," Bernat said recently.

The skeleton can help anthropologists better understand the people and society of ancient Bohemia, which was populated variously by Slavs, Celts and other people of unclear origins.

Bernat, who's been an archaeologist for 25 years and works for the Institute of Archaeological Preservation of Central Bohemia, was tapped in June to do compulsory research before the construction of a preschool here, a common step in acquiring a building permit.

That's when he struck gold — or, rather, bones. It was a fortunate find, Bernat said, because burial sites normally don't show up so close to the ground's surface. He believes the young man was killed and tossed into a room of an ancient building without any funeral (the size of the building is still unclear).

"The skeleton's unnatural position — its spine and scalp twisted by 90 degrees from its pelvis and legs — suggests he was the victim of a violent act," Bernat said. "Also, there were no gifts next to the body, while it was customary to leave them at that time."

Bernat is eager to find out more circumstances surrounding the death. He hopes some questions will be answered by additional research, such as examining a ceramic piece lodged in the man's skull.

But time is working against Bernat's team. He has to leave the premises by Aug. 28, according to an agreement with the developer.

The site has yielded other discoveries, as well: stone tools and ceramics that date to the fifth century B.C, as well as jewels, tools, toys and ancient building foundations from later periods.

It may never be known what else lies in the ground.

The archaeologists' quiet work is contrasted by the deafening noise of drills breaking ground nearby. A few meters from the skeleton, which is still in the ground, lie concrete blocks ready for use in building the preschool.

And hardly anyone would guess that a small tin shed off to one side of the site hides a treasure trove of enormous value: It's where the historical objects found here are sorted and then stuck in paper bags inboxes.

From one of the bags, Bernat pulled out a 5,000-year-old child's toy.

"All this here has to be cleaned, treated in a laboratory and if possible, glued together," said Bernat.

Meanwhile, the skeleton will soon be taken from the ground, examined carefully by historical anthropologists and, later, showcased at the National Museum in Prague.

As to all the other artifacts that have been found just beneath the surface of these ancient hills, Bernat says it will take decades before much of it can be displayed in a museum.

"There is just too much stuff and too few people to do the work," he said.