What bizarre and terrifying ‘treasures’ from long-gone ancient civilizations are still hidden in crypts, caves and deep within the earth? Most archaeologists may spend their days painstakingly brushing sand off pieces of pottery, but occasionally, they unearth evidence of the darker side of humanity - cannibalism, sacrifice, mass murder, deadly paranoia about vampires and witches, and even chemical warfare. These 15 archaeological finds of ancient human remains are among the most grisly, frightening and fascinating.
1. Vampire of Venice
Among the corpses of medieval plague victims was one very curious find: a skull with a brick shoved so forcefully between its jaws, they were broken. The technique was used on suspected vampires in Europe during this time, especially when natural biological processes after death resulted in dark blood-like liquid streaming from the mouth. Researchers have determined that not only was this elderly woman feared a vampire after her death, she may have been accused of witchcraft before she met her end. Most people didn’t live to be her age, estimated at 60-71 years, and many medieval Europeans believed that the devil gave the elderly powers to cheat death. Older women were particularly suspect because it was assumed that they had little to live for, and were vulnerable to offers of power.
2. The Screaming Mummies
Imagine opening a sarcophagus to find a mummy that seems to be screaming for all eternity. In the past, when ‘screaming mummies‘ were discovered, archaeologists assumed that they must have been buried alive or killed in some other painful manner. Now, however, they usually agree that mummies are commonly found with their jaws open due to their heads falling back after death. The most famous screaming mummy is Unknown Man E, an Egyptian mummy found in 1886, who could be the murderous son of Ramses III. Another is even more shocking, with its hands covering its face in apparent terror; it was among the remains of the Chachapoya Indians of Peru.
3. Pile of Headless Vikings
Evidence of a shocking massacre was discovered when archaeologists unearthed 51 thousand-year-old skulls - along with another pit containing their headless bodies - in Weymouth, United Kingdom. Found in 2009, these young male Vikings were brutally slain sometime between 910 and 1030 CE. Analysis of their teeth confirmed that they were from Scandinavia. They were likely war captives of the Anglo-Saxons, executed by having their heads hacked off.
4. Neanderthal Cannibals
The bones of twelve neanderthals found in a cave in Spain were cut and snapped, indicating that they were likely ‘processed’ by fellow neanderthals as food. The possible family group, which included three adult males, three adult females, three adolescents, two children and an infant, is one of the most significant examples of cannibalism among neanderthals. “There are many different markings in many different bones in all 12 individuals, including traditional cut marks to disarticulate bones and remove muscle insertions, snapping and fracturing of long bones to extract the marrow,”researcher Carles Lalueza-Fox told Live Science.
5. Bathhouse Baby Disposal
How and why were the bones of nearly 100 infants discarded like trash in a late Roman, early Byzantine sewer beneath a bathhouse in Israel? Found in 1988 in Ashkelon, the remains indicate that the babies died before three days of age, and show no signs of disease or skeletal malformation. While scholars hypothesized that the babies were girls, since female infanticide was common during that time, tests have since shown that many were male. The reasoning behind their death is still a mystery.
6. The First Leper
The earliest archaeological evidence of leprosy is found in a 4,000-year-old skeleton unearthed in India in 2009. Leprosy is difficult to study because the bacteria that causes it is tricky to culture for research, and scientists are still unsure of exactly when and where it originated. This skeleton was not only the oldest leper ever found, it was also the first evidence of leprosy in ancient India, supporting the idea that the disease migrated between Africa and Asia during a period of urbanization, growing population density and new trade routes.
7. Murdered Bog Bodies
The peat bogs of northwestern Europe have turned out to be one of the richest sources of ancient human remains in the world, preserving bodies so perfectly that they sometimes still contain blood and stomach contents. ‘Bog bodies‘ such as the Grauballe Man, pictured, date from 8,000 B.C.E. to the early medieval period. It seems that these people were not buried in the peat bogs, nor did they simply die there - they died violently. Researchers believe they were most likely sacrificed, or executed as punishment for crimes or perceived flaws.
8. Skulls Used as Cups
Three human skulls found in Gough’s Cave, Somerset, England were carefully worked into the shape of bowls, indicating that they were used to drink from. At 14,700 years old, these are the oldest skull cups ever discovered, and they were surrounded by other human remains that had been snapped to get to the marrow inside, suggesting cannibalism.
9. Undead Corpses in Bulgaria
Driving stakes through the hearts of suspected vampires isn’t all fiction. Bulgarian archaeologists have unearthed two ‘vampire’ corpses in excavations near a monastery in the town of Sozopol, near the Black Sea. Both were more than 800 years old, and pinned down through the chest with heavy iron rods. The practice was common in Bulgarian villages up until the first decade of the 20th century, and likely resulted from gravediggers opening crypts to bury plague victims in mass burial sites, and stumbling upon bodies bloated with gases, with bloody mouths that seemed to be sucking in their burial shrouds. This frightening appearance led many to believe that the corpses were ‘undead.’
10. Ancient Roman Chemical Warfare
19 Roman soldiers who died in a cramped underground tunnel in Syria nearly 2,000 years ago were the first-ever victims of chemical warfare to leave archaeological evidence of their passing. During a battle with Persian soldiers, the Romans were met with a wall of black smoke that turned to acid in their lungs, killing them within minutes. A 20th skeleton, that of a Persian, was likely the man who started the toxic fire.
11. Elongated Skulls of Peru and Mexico
Bizarrely elongated skulls found in Mexico and Peru elicited claims of ‘aliens’ among those prone to conspiracy theories, and while the truth is much more mundane than that, it’s still fascinating. These skulls are evidence of artificial cranial deformation, the practice of distorting the natural growth of a child’s skull by binding it with wood or cloth. The earliest examples date back to Neanderthals, and it is still practiced by some cultures today. The purpose was most likely to signify group affiliation and demonstrate social status.
12. Tools Made of Human Bones
The femurs and skulls of the dead were used by their relatives to make tools like combs and buttons by members of a pre-Aztec civilization in modern-day Mexico. Researchers analyzed 5,000 bone fragments found in the ancient city of Teotihuacan, finding that they had been transformed into household tools shortly after death. When their loved ones died, the Teotihuacanos used stones to remove their flesh and muscle and immediately begin work on the bones, which become to fragile to sculpt if too much time passes.
13. Massive Skull Pile at the Bottom of a Lake
Another fascinating find at Teotihuacan is a pile of ancient skulls found in an otherwise empty field that once held a vast lake. The trove of 150 skulls represents evidence of the largest mass human sacrifice ever discovered, which likely occurred about 1,100 years ago. The researchers declined to release photos of the skulls out of respect for modern-day indigenous cultures that may have been related to the victims.
14. Circle of Baby Skeletons
Buried a thousand years ago with wooden ‘false heads’, dozens of mummies were discovered in a vast Peruvian tomb, surrounded by a ring of baby skeletons in the foetal position. The tomb may have been a final resting place for diseased pilgrims to came to Pachacamac for miracle cures from the mysterious Ychsma people of ancient Peru. While some may have died naturally, researchers can’t rule out the possibility that the babies were sacrificed.
15. Prehistoric Pickled Brain
Care for a little pickled prehistoric brain? An Iron Age man who was hanged and then decapitated was found in a waterlogged UK peat bog, and submersion in this liquid environment helped to preserve his brain for 2,684 years. It’s the oldest known intact human brain from Europe and Asia. Brain tissue normally decays very quickly with exposure to air, starting to decompose long before muscle and other soft tissues.
Related Posts:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please adhere to proper blog etiquette when posting your comments. This blog owner will exercise his absolution discretion in allowing or rejecting any comments that are deemed seditious, defamatory, libelous, racist, vulgar, insulting, and other remarks that exhibit similar characteristics. If you insist on using anonymous comments, please write your name or other IDs at the end of your message.