7 July 2008 | A team of archaeologists from Belgrade’s Philosophy Faculty discovered a tomb with two skeletons in the area of Gradina-Postenje, where Serbia’s medieval capital, Stari Ras, once stood, national media reported today.

The tomb with the human remains, the Serbian newspaper Vecernje novosti reported, was found in the south-western part of the church that was discovered in the area 10 days ago. According the archaeologists, the skeletons are 1.93 metres long, which means that they belonged to people who were over 2 metres tall.

The discoveries – both the skeletons and the church, will have to be studied further, in order to determine what period they are from and their significance. Insufficient funding, however, means archaeologists will have to stop working, archaeologist Duško Mrkobrat told the newspaper.

The area of Gradina-Postenje is located near the town of Novi Pazar, in the region of Sandžak in central Serbia. Archaeologists have been working there for over two decades, during which they have discovered three churches, a chapel and a palace – which have led them to believe that Stari Ras – the capital of the medieval Serbian state of Raška, was located here. Another theory by experts from Belgrade’s Archaeology Institute, however, claims that Stari Ras was located near Sopoćani.

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