scads of human skeletons discovered in an ancient burial site in Oxfordshire , England , are think to be the dupe of ritualistic sacrifice more than 3,000 years ago .
Dating back to the Iron Age , the ancient settlement was chance on by the Britain - based Thames Water caller while preparing to lay 6 kilometers ( 3.7 miles ) of new water pipes in a chalk stream . During the dig , the water bunch discovered 26 human skeletal frame , as well as evidence of dwellings , animal carcasses , household items like pottery and cut utensil , and a cosmetic combing . An mining conducted byCotswold Archaeologyrecovered the token and removed them for forensic exam .
“ The Iron Age site at Childrey Warren was particularly fascinating as it furnish a glimpse into the beliefs and superstitious notion of hoi polloi living in Oxfordshire before the popish conquest . grounds elsewhere suggest that burials in pits might have postulate human ritual killing , ” say Cotswold Archaeology Chief Executive Neil Holbrook in astatement . “ The uncovering challenges our perception about the past , and bid us to attempt to read the beliefs of people who live and died more than 2,000 eld ago . ”
Though it is likely “ lurid ” , archaeologists say that colliery inhumation was a common occurrence during the Iron Age . In this style of burial , individuals are usually found crouched on the side in varying positions . The organization believe one of the remains is a female person who had been placed in the pit with her “ arms draped over her head , her hands together , and the stage bent up with the knee wide apart . One foot seem to have been detached and placed , still articulated , by the right arm . A neonate was get hold below the body of the adult , possibly interred at an early date . ”
“ The Iron Age is renowned for its ' unusual ' burial practices , of which there were a huge variety , ” tell the organisation in aFacebook C. W. Post , adding that entombment occurred both above the solid ground or in rivers in order for the body to decompose ( excarnation ) before being swallow . During this curation , tightly bound position may have been used to “ sustain a consistency together ” .
Britain’sIron Agespans from 800 BCE to 43 advertizing , when the Romans invaded the British Isles . It ’s qualify by the onset of Modern technologies , admit those involved in atomic number 26 working , clayware , and farming techniques that helped populations grow substantially . Burial practices during this sentence were extremely varied and often take place in the contour of pit sepulture regain inside Alfred Hawthorne garrison and other settlements , though the most celebrated are bog body such asTollund Man , Grauballe Man , and theLindo Man .
“ These findings open up a unique window into the lives and death of communities we often know only for their monolithic buildings , such as hillforts or the Uffington White Horse,”saidPaolo Guarino , Cotswold Archaeology project officer .
“ The results from the analysis of the artifacts , animal bone , the human skeletons , and the dirt samples will assist us add some important information to the history of the residential area that occupied these kingdom so many years ago . ”
