Archaeologists in Opole have uncovered the joint grave of two medieval women, marking the first genetically confirmed same-sex burial from medieval Poland.
Though not clear how deep the relationship was, their shared burial may be indicative of a significant social, religious or emotional connection.
The discovery was made during excavations near the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Opole. They found two bodies buried in close proximity. One woman was buried according to established funerary customs and the other was buried in a position that seems to imitate an embrace. There was no evidence of violence, hurried burial or disturbance of the grave.
The burial attracted particular attention because Christian burial practices in the Middle Ages generally favoured individual interment.
To investigate further, scientists from the L. Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the University of Cologne, and the University of Opole conducted genetic analyses of the skeletal remains. Their findings, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.105792), confirmed that both individuals were women.
The women are believed to have died at approximately 40 years of age. Due to the poor preservation of the skeletal material, determining sex through traditional osteological methods proved difficult. DNA analysis ultimately provided definitive identification.
“In Poland, double burials of adults have been described at many archaeological sites, but they are rarely subjected to archaeogenetic research. First of all, this is the first genetically confirmed burial of persons of the same sex in medieval Poland,” explained Dr. Agata Cieślik from the Hirszfeld Institute, the first author of the publication.
The analysis also demonstrated that the women were not closely related. Researchers excluded familial relationships up to the third degree, ruling out possibilities such as sisters, mother and daughter, or first cousins.
“This is an important discovery because archaeologists often interpret joint burials as family graves,” said Dr Cieślik. “In many cases, however, such assumptions are based solely on the arrangement of remains or the archaeological context. This is the first time a similar hypothesis has been tested using genetic methods.”
Why the women were buried together remains uncertain. Medieval burial customs often reflected strong social and spiritual beliefs, with communities seeking to preserve important relationships beyond death. While many known joint burials involve spouses or relatives, same-sex burials of unrelated individuals are far more difficult to interpret.
“It’s possible that the women were members of the same religious community or held a similar social role. It also cannot be ruled out that they died at about the same time during a local epidemic or other crisis. However, the lack of evidence of a mass burial points more likely to an individual decision by the community. The exact nature of the relationship between them during their lifetime remains unclear,” emphasised Dr. Cieślik.
The discovery highlights the complexity of social relationships in medieval society. Beyond family connections, bonds formed through neighbourhoods, religious associations, guilds, and everyday cooperation may have been equally significant. As a thriving urban centre, medieval Opole was characterised by tightly knit communities where loyalty and mutual support could create relationships as meaningful as kinship.
Further genetic studies of medieval collective burials in Poland may reveal whether such interments were exceptional cases or part of a broader and still poorly understood funerary tradition.
Header Image Credit : Dr. Magdalena Przysiężna-Pizarska/ University of Opole
Sources : PAP
