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 ...
Of interest to me was that these were northern Vikings. I guess they came in waves as most of the ones I have come across in research of English history have been Danish in origin.
Thanks for the ping - you still swash-buckling?
Hahah. Well, he’s pretty even-keeled. His sister, however, is a redhead and you would not want to mess with her. Ever. He was merciless to her as an older bro, of course, in that mandated way.
Here’s what I think tho — two berzerker genes in one marriage? Could be really bad.
Well, of course they/we wanted to go a-Viking. The wimmen were beautiful, the land was green and pastoral, the weather was nice, the beer was good, and the people were just waiting for a good time.
Exactly.
Yah, some. It’s been a slow winter but I’m hoping things pick up soon. Been doing more reading than practicing, but that’s part of it, too.
Note the clue that their heads were found not to be attached to their shoulders, but found nearby...perhaps they had, after death, simply fallen out of their arse.
What happened to their kitties? Maybe there is a link to the Viking Kitties we know and love today!
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