New Research

See the Faces of Two Sisters Who Toiled Away in a Neolithic Mine 6,000 Years Ago

Archaeologists created 3D reconstructions of the women’s faces based on an analysis of their teeth and bones. Found in the Czech Republic, the siblings “did not have an easy life,” the new research suggests

Sarah Kuta | Daily Correspondent

August 5, 2025

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Roughly 6,000 years ago, two sisters worked in a mine in what is now the Czech Republic. Day after day, they extracted heavy rocks from the ground—even when they were injured. Eventually, after they died from unknown causes, they were buried on top of each other in the mine shaft.

This is the scenario archaeologists have described after studying the women’s remains. They report their findings—and share a reconstruction of what their faces might have looked like—in a recent paper published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.

Archaeologists first discovered the women’s skeletons more than 15 years ago while excavating a Neolithic mine in the Czech Republic’s South Moravian region. Located in the Krumlov Forest, the area is home to one of the largest chert mining fields in all of Europe. Chert is a type of rock that was used to make stone tools and weapons.

Researchers found the first skeleton buried roughly 20 feet beneath the surface in a mining shaft. They kept digging and found the second skeleton about three feet below the first. They also found the remains of a small dog, as well as a newborn baby who appeared to have been laid on one woman’s chest.

The placement of the dog’s remains left the team puzzled. The animal’s skull was found near the top skeleton, while the rest of the bones were found near the lower skeleton.

Using radiocarbon dating techniques, researchers determined the women had lived between 4050 and 4340 B.C.E. Genetic testing also revealed the two women were related to each other—and that they were likely sisters. The baby, however, was not related to either of them.

“One can only speculate as to why the newborn was buried together with the females,” the researchers write in the paper.

The women’s skeletons showed no signs of disease or violence, so the cause of death is unclear. They may have been killed as part of a “ritual of reconciliation with the earth, perhaps as offerings to ensure the prosperity of the excavations,” writes La Brújula Verde’s Guillermo Carvajal.

The mine shaft was left open for a while after the burials, which also may have been done for symbolic purposes.

Another possibility is that the women were “put down when they could no longer work,” says study co-author Martin Oliva, an archaeologist at the Moravian Museum in Brno, Czech Republic, to Live Science’s Sascha Pare in an email.

To learn more about the sisters and the mysterious circumstances surrounding their deaths and burial, scientists took a closer look at their teeth and skeletons. These analyses revealed the women “did not have an easy life,” the researchers write.

The younger sister was around 30 to 35 when she died, and she likely had dark hair and hazel or green eyes. The older sister was around 35 to 40, and she probably had blonde hair and blue eyes. Both were slender and short, standing just under five feet tall.

As children, the sisters had been weak, diseased and poorly fed, per the researchers. As adults, their diets likely improved, but they performed hard labor. Their skeletons suggest they carried heavy loads while working in a hunched “forward bend” position, the researchers write. One of the sisters fractured her left forearm but probably continued to work despite the injury.

The women ate more meat than was typical for the period, though the researchers aren’t sure why. They might have been provided with meat because they were tasked with hard labor. Alternatively, the surrounding region may have had abundant wild game.

Why were they working in the mine in the first place? Researchers suspect they probably didn’t have a choice. As men began to hold more power, “the hardest labor may no longer have been done by the strongest, but by those who could most easily be forced to do it,” per the study.

It’s also possible they worked in the mine voluntarily, the researchers note, perhaps because their small stature allowed them to more easily fit into narrow underground spaces.

Many questions remain unanswered. However, the researchers decided to bring the women to life based on what they do know. They created two 3D busts from silicone, which are now on display at the Moravian Museum as part of a larger exhibition about the archaeological finds from the Krumlov Forest. They chose the women’s garments based on textile fragments found across Europe from the same period.

Sarah Kuta | Read More

Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.