Soldiers of the 123rd Territorial Defense Brigade (TDF) stumbled upon an ancient burial ground while constructing fortifications in southern Ukraine, the brigade’s press service reported.

During excavation works, an excavator operator named Mykola found a small amphora. Intrigued by the discovery, he consulted his colleague named Yevhen, an avid history enthusiast. Together, they decided to donate the artifact to the Mykolaiv Regional Museum of Local Lore, known as “StaroflotskiBarracks.”

Museum experts identified the artifact as a Corinthian amphora, traditionally used for ritual purposes and placed in graves. Further analysis revealed that the place where the soldiers carried out the fortification work was an ancient burial ground dating back to the VI-V centuries BC.

Another significant find was an Ionian vessel known as an oinochoe, an ancient Greek jug with a single handle and three spouts, used to pouring wine during symposia, ritualized feasts in ancient Greece.

“These are ritual items created specifically for burials and brought from Greece. It is important that the vessels have been preserved intact, without damage, which indicates the high social status of the buried,” explained Oleksandr, a former archaeologist, lecturer at Mykolaiv National University named after V.O. Sukhomlynskyi, and now a military serviceman.

Along with the artifacts, the servicemen of the civil-military cooperation service transferred human skeletal remains from the burial site to the museum.

In December 2024, the Armed Forces of Ukraine established a cultural heritage protection unit within the Civil-Military Cooperation Department of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The main task of this unit is to coordinate efforts aimed at protecting, preserving and preventing the destruction of cultural heritage sites that may be threatened by hostilities.

As a reminder, in September 2024, border guards found a cache with weapons from the First World War near the border with Poland.

In particular, rare Lishin stick grenades were found— first percussion grenades in the Russian Empire’s army. They were invented in 1904 and were used during the Russo-Japanese War and World War I.

Despite the fact that Lishin grenades were not officially adopted, they were handmade in the army and mentioned in the manuals of the time.