Rome · Roman period · Tomis (Constanța), Constanța County, Romania
Intact Roman child's sarcophagus with rooster rattle found on Romania's Black Sea coast
Inside, archaeologists in Constanța found a wooden coffin, clothing, a coin, two pendants and traces of flower garlands, buried near the Roman road to Histria.
Tomis (Constanța), Romania Archaeologists in Constanța, on Romania's Black Sea coast, have found an intact Roman sarcophagus containing the burial of a young child. It lay in the necropolis on the edge of ancient Tomis, the city beneath modern Constanța. A necropolis is a large ancient cemetery, usually outside a town.
The team is from the Museum of National History and Archaeology in Constanța. The news site Romania Insider first reported the find, and Archaeology Magazine carried it on 29 October 2026. The museum's archaeologists said the burial belonged to a young child.
The reports so far are brief. They do not give the child's age or sex. They also do not give a date for the burial beyond calling the sarcophagus Roman.
A coffin, a rattle and flowers
The sarcophagus was found intact. Inside it, the researchers found a wooden coffin, which they describe as well preserved. With it were clothing, a coin and two pendants.
One object is a clay toy in the shape of a rooster. It works as a rattle. The reports do not say whether the child used it in life or whether it was made for the burial.
The team also found traces of floral garlands. The reports do not describe the coin or the pendants in any detail. They do not say what the coin shows or when it was struck.
A grave beside the road to Histria
Tomis began as a Greek colony on the western shore of the Black Sea and later came under Roman rule. The poet Ovid was sent there in exile in AD 8 and died there. Under the later empire, Tomis was the capital of the province of Scythia Minor.
Romans normally buried their dead outside the limits of a town. Tombs often lined the roads that led out of it. The child's sarcophagus fits this pattern.
The burial lay close to a road that connected Roman Tomis with the fortress of Histria. Histria was another old Greek city on the same stretch of coast, to the north of Tomis.
The position of the grave may prove useful. According to the reports, its location could help researchers work out how far the necropolis extended. It could also show how burials were arranged along the road.
Sources (1)
- Child’s Sarcophagus Discovered in Romania (Archaeology Magazine)
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