The majority of the remains had the head placed at the feet.Oxford Archaeology
Posted on 01/28/2023 9:49:20 AM PST by SunkenCiv
A number of decapitated skeletons have been uncovered by archaeologists at a Roman burial site.
The discovery, which included evidence of Roman and Iron Age settlements, was made at Wintringham near St Neots, Cambridgeshire.
Dating from 2,500 years ago, the site will feature in the latest series of BBC Two's Digging for Britain...
The work comes ahead of a development of about 2,800 homes in the village.
Archaeologists uncovered an Iron Age settlement composed of 40 roundhouses and a network of trackways and enclosures related to farming activities.
The Oxford Archaeology team also discovered Roman coins, brooches, a large lead lid or platter, and numerous pottery vessels.
A Roman kiln and a large number of quern and millstones, used to grind grains, were also found.
Experts said the decapitated skeletons dated back to the third century AD, with 11 out of the 17 burials having their heads positioned by the feet.
The individuals were interred carefully, often buried with pottery and in one case, a pottery vessel was found in place of the head, archaeologists said...
Specialists will now start analysing the skeletons with the hope of providing more details about the burial rites that were in use in the area.
The discovery will feature on episode three of Digging for Britain on BBC Two at 21:00 GMT on Sunday or on the iPlayer.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
The majority of the remains had the head placed at the feet.Oxford Archaeology
The other GGG topics added since the previous digest ping, chrono sort:
The Great White Shark Cartel.
One of which was almost certainly a topless bar...
My eyes are playing tricks on me. They had me thinking ‘What is a Rohead Manless?
Well, yeah.
Now that is weird. How did that happen? Was the village raided and people were decapitated? Why would the survivors burying the decapitated deceased put the heads at their feet?
If the invaders / raiders buried the victims, they wouldn't have been careful about where to place the heads. They would have just tossed all the remains into graves.
There are so many mysteries created by these discoveries.
Once again, thanks for posting these articles, SC. These aren't something I would find on my own.
"A Roman kiln and a large number of quern and millstones."All those people who hate capitalism should think about what life was like without it.The word "quern" is a new one to me, so I looked it up. It's a primitive mill made from soft stone (like sandstone) for grinding grain. A hole made all the way through the stone. At the top of this stone, a sloping depression (convex) all round leading to the hole would be made.
A top “hat”, also of stone, with a concave bottom that somewhat matched inversely the depression in the main stone so that the two fit together, had a hole in it, with a wooden handle attached. Querns could be more or less primitive, depending on the skill of the craftsman and the tools available to him in his area and in his time.
You put the top on, put a small amount of grain in through the hole in the top, and turned the top using the wooden handle. The main, bottom stone stayed stationary, only the top one turned. This would grind the grain between the two rocks, and the meal would come out the bottom of the main stone.
You needed hours to produce a decent amount of flour. If you had 12 people in your family, someone would have to take up to 4 hours grinding enough flour or meal to make bread for them for that day alone.
Much fine stone dust came out with the meal and flour. This stone dust, we know from skeletons, quickly wore down the enamel on teeth, leading inevitably to dental pain.
How many found were ancient transgenders? 🤔🙄
The Ethiopian eunuch.
Topless... that *would* explain these burials...
Sounds like that one guy was a pothead.
In recent centuries, that morphed into The Great Blue Baby Shark Cartel...
Groan!!!
They didn’t know they should of been only eating red meat and fruit. They would of been fine then.
Thanks. Some great info at that page. We were discussing the “wishing well” idea recently. This page says “The fact that this vessel has survived in its entirety suggests that it may have been deliberately placed in the waterhole, perhaps as a closing deposit for the well. Exactly why people in the Iron Age often used pots as offerings in this way is something of a mystery.”
A “closing deposit” is a new idea (at least to me) that nobody pitched in the recent discussion.
It’s interesting that the best place to find whole pots is in graves. Every day pottery ended up broken and discarded. Makes a lot of sense.
Tourists.
Bet they had tee shirts that said “I lost my head in Wintringham!”
the Apostle Paul was beheaded
Roman Christians were beheaded as it was considered more merciful
compared to non Roman Christians who were burned alive, fed to lions, crucified....
Rome was at war with Christianity
No, Rome wasn't at war with Christianity.
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