Led by Dr. Hab. Marta Osypińska from the University of Wrocław, the sensational discovery was made when a Polish team re-examined a pet cemetery in Berenike. Located on the Red Sea, this port was founded by Emperor Tiberius following the annexation of Egypt.

Becoming an international trade hub, it was via there that goods flowed to Rome from India, Asia, Arabia, and East Africa. Despite that, for the Romans, the town was considered “the edge of the world.” Stationed for six-month postings, the unforgiving climate negated the chance to bring their wives and children. “I think they wouldn’t have survived in this climate; it’s pure desert,” said Osypińska.

Shorn of the company of their loved ones, it's for this reason that the Romans adopted numerous pets to lift their spirits. “Monkeys, because they are so human, had a soothing effect and provided a substitute for their families,” said Osypińska. “These must have been animals with which people established emotional relationships, something confirmed by our findings.”

Dated between the first and second centuries, the cemetery was first unearthed in 2020 and made headlines at the time. Since then, around 500 animals have been found buried. The latest dig is a continuation of previous excavations. Shifting their focus to a different area, the Polish team was surprised to find an even greater accumulation than ever before.

“Within two months, in a five by five meter trench, we recorded over 200 burials,” says Osypińska. “Interestingly, monkeys—rare elsewhere—were very numerous in this location.”

Imported from India—a fact proved last year by the discovery of kitchenware and a sculpture of Buddha—researchers say that the monkeys were afforded an elevated status to the point of being treated almost like people.

“The monkeys were placed as if sleeping on their sides, with their paws next to their faces, and wrapped in fabrics and covered in blankets,” said Osypińska. Moreover, they were buried alongside toys and trinkets such as shells, rags, cow’s tails, collars, and harnesses.

Bizarrely, it’s also believed that the monkeys themselves had pets. Previously, archaeologists discovered a piglet buried next to a monkey, as well as kittens. “Young rhesus monkeys love small cats; they play with them like children,” said Osypińska.

This year, added Osypińska, the last day of digging yielded the discovery of two calves, both with their heads “smeared with a solid layer of ocher.”