Posted on 03/12/2010 5:09:48 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
London, England (CNN) -- They were 51 young men who met a grisly death far from home, their heads chopped off and their bodies thrown into a mass grave.
Their resting place was unknown until last year, when workers excavating for a road near the London 2012 Olympic sailing venue in Weymouth, England, unearthed the grave. But questions remained about who the men were, how long they had been there and why they had been decapitated.
On Friday, officials revealed that analysis of the men's teeth shows they were Vikings, executed with sharp blows to the head around a thousand years ago. They were killed during the Dark Ages, when Vikings frequently invaded the region.
"To find out that the young men executed were Vikings is a thrilling development," said David Score, project manager for Oxford Archaeology, which excavated the remains. "Any mass grave is a relatively rare find, but to find one on this scale, from this period of history, is extremely unusual and presents an incredible opportunity to learn more about what is happening in Dorset at this time."
Radiocarbon dating had already placed the remains between A.D. 890 and 1030, before the Norman conquest of Anglo-Saxon England.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Brett Favre looking for more attention?
what are viking teeth like?
I guess their team came in second place. No medals for you, Vikings!
So, how is it that you can check the teeth of someone speaking Old West Gothic and tell that he’s a Viking rather than an Angle?
The same thing would have happened if the Olympics were being held in Chicago.
Always fascinated by this stuff
ROFL!
Those 1012 Olympics were pretty tough!
The article actually explains all that. Did you read it?
Fifty-one Vikings...just stood there and took the blow to the head (what they kinda suggest)? It’s hard for me to buy this story. Vikings would have fought to the end...unless they screwed up something and took the blame for failure, perhaps?
Or were they drunk Vikings and someone simply did them all end at the conclusion of the party?
One sentence in need of context.
I’ll bet they really pissed someone off.....
They were my ancestors, where is my reparations??
btt
51 beheaded corpses suggests that they probably voted with Harry Reid for reconciliation.
Mine also. In fact, I’m descending from Vikings, Blacks, Jews, Irish, Yankees who died in the Civil War, etc. I figure I’m owed a whole lot of money by a lot of people.
Amazing stuff.
No, jihad started early.
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