Posted on 01/19/2019 3:07:07 AM PST by SunkenCiv
An archaeological dig in Suffolk, England has yielded up a Roman-era cemetery treasure: 52 beautifully preserved skeletons dating back to the 4th century.
And of those skeletons, many had been decapitated, their disembodied heads placed neatly at their sides or feet for burial, or buried without bodies altogether. Only 17 skeletons had been buried normally...
It's known that Great Whelnetham was a Roman settlement, starting around the mid- to late- first century CE, and occupied for nearly 2,000 years; but, because the ground is fine sand, it was expected that any skeletons would have long disintegrated.
So when the team started excavating skeletons, the remains of men, women and children of all ages, indicating that they had lived in the settlement, it was a surprise.
Generally speaking, the Romans buried their dead much like we do - laying on their backs, neatly arranged, often with significant items. But in every Roman cemetery, there can be found a number of what are called "deviant" burials that break from this norm.
What makes the Great Whelnetham cemetery so unusual is the number of deviant burials, Peachey told the BBC's Lesley Dolphin in an interview.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencealert.com ...
♪I ain't got nobody....♪
Has anyone checked the Clinton’s family Tree?.
Origin of the phrase: Youd lose your head if it wasnt attached.
It's possible that P.O.E. is onto something. :^)
In Britain before the Romans, separate burial of the severed head of the deceased was practiced for higher status people. The practice may or may not have been commonplace (there aren't all that many human remains that old in Britain) but it is referenced in the Welsh Mabinogeon. The head of Bran the Blessed (not Brian the Blessed, I'm onto ya) was cut off and buried in the east, facing Europe, to protect the island from invasion. It didn't work though. ;^)
I think this constitutes prima facey evidence.
Mysterious? Since when were ancient and medieval practices of beheading groups of those defeated in battle a surprise? It is certain that beheading groups of people occurred for numerous reasons. Long live the king!
He was briefly super cute.
So what were they going to put on *pikes*?
I have a t-shirt (took it from Tom the Son when he outgrew it) that shows a headless figure holding a chainsaw. The caption is, “I no longer hear the voices in my head.”
I saw similar internment caverns under a monastery in Jerusalem. It dated back to the 6th century and probably was adapted to Roman custom. Rumor has it that several monasteries had burial catacombs like the one I personally observed, although I only saw the one.
Zombies.
L
Defleshed burials, or rather interments, sometimes using ossuaries, are found throughout the world, here and there, but preservation/veneration of the cranium seems to have been the important part. If memory serves, the practice as found in the excavation of Catal Huyuk and Jericho. It could be motivated by a desire or need to preserve the identity of the deceased.
Among Romans (and of course, the Vikings), cremation was also commonplace. Excarnation is still practiced by Zoroastrians in India, and was practiced (as "burials in the air") by some Precolumbian North American tribes.
If you'd read the article, you'd find that the decapitations were post-mortem, so, no, not execution by beheading.
Yeah, that was close. If it weren't for the Romans, the danged zombies would have destroyed civilization.
Not sure pikes were involved, probably something related to the worship of some cod.
That's one sure way to do it! :^)
This was Jerusalem. Romans and their ancestors were left after the formation of the Church during Constantine reign. No doubt, the monasteries had been occupied off and on since then. Jericho was more of a crossroads, so more civilizations have remnants there.
Romans and their descendants, I think you mean. The point is, its not an unknown practice in the region, or indeed throughout the world. It would be nice if grave markers were present at this Sussex dig, but that rarely happens. With ancient burials, either the markers are found (and sometimes had been reused at least once as building materials etc) without any sign of the remains, or remains are found without any markers (as happened with a very high status burial at Sutton Hoo, from Anglo-Saxon times, hardly a prehistoric era).
correct. Descendants (sounded dyslexic, didn’t it?). I have actually found markers re-purposed into many other things. Mainly because who ever invaded the land had little regard for cemeteries, and markers were often good building material...It is customary to destroy other cultures burial grounds and defile it.
"Mishap with a contraceptive in a time machine." -- Douglas Adams
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