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| Science & Technology | |
| Headless skeletons in a settlement trench: A 7,000-year-old mass grave? | |
| 2023-01-16 | |
| Brain eaters? Alien experiments? Failed Alien experiments? [Jpost] Researchers uncovered the headless remains of dozens of people in a trench. Now, they're trying to piece together the story of how the skeletons got there. A trench containing 38 headless skeletons was uncovered at an excavation site in Vráble, Slovakia by archaeologists from Germany's Christian-Albrecht University (CAU) and Slovakia's Archaeological Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences back in August of 2022. The findings were expanded upon in detail on the CAU website this past Wednesday. The excavation site, Vráble-Ve'lke Lehemby, dates back to Central Europe's Early Neolithic era (5,250-4,950 BCE) and is comprised of the remnants of three neighboring villages and is one of the largest settlements of the time and place.
The settlement was remarkably developed for the era as well, with 80 houses being inhabited contemporaneously, a 1.3 km double ditch surounding one of the villages and border-deliniating palisades. The skeletonized remains of the 38 individuals were spread haphazardly over an area of roughly 15 square meters. The careless positioning of the bodies suggests that they were tossed or rolled roughly into the grave. Furthermore, with the exception of only one of the skeletons, an infant's, each individual was missing its skull. "In mass graves with an unclear positioning, the identification of an individual is usually based on the skull, so for us, this year's find represents a particularly challenging excavation situation,” says prof. Martin Furholt, the leader of the project. Despite initial appearances, there are some indicators that headless bodies discovered in the trench were not necessarily the victims of a mass execution. For instance, one of the researchers posits that the positioning of the corpses may not be a result of being thrown or rolled into the trench, but that bones that had already been there have been pushed aside to make room for further bodies. Additionally, some of the skeletons show signs that their heads were removed carefully, post-mortem rather than as part of a violent killing blow. The researchers acknowledge that more study is required to make a determination. Further investigation will examine any connections between the decapitated individuals. Any commonalities between them could help the archaeologist piece together their story. It's also possible that the individuals met their ends from either internal or external violence and do not, in fact, share any commonalities aside from being residents of the same place. Whatever the case may be, the site is being hailed as "unique" by the archaeologists and there is undoubtedly a lot left to learn from the neolithic era settlement. | |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #7 To be perfectly Frank, maybe someone just wanted some head. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2023-01-16 23:28 |
| #6 ^ I like that |
| Posted by: Frank G 2023-01-16 20:06 |
| #5 I have a t shirt that says "The skulls of your enemies are dishwasher safe." |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-01-16 16:53 |
| #4 Creates a human form of Mad Cow Disease called Kuru. The CDC says don't go eating no squirrel brains neither. Mad cow, mad squirrel, same difference. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2023-01-16 16:47 |
| #3 Skull cups Cups of Vietnam jungle conflicts remain unrecorded in popular literature. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2023-01-16 14:11 |
| #2 "I'll tell you what's wrong with society. No one drinks from the skulls of their enemies anymore."___ anon. |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2023-01-16 09:14 |
| #1 Shows that there has always been War (Tribal) and various forms of Terrorism. BTW: Eating the brains of the conquered, or dead, was/is still practiced in some New Guinea areas. Also seem to remember a big stink some years ago, about a CNN journalist doing it for a series covering various religious practices or something on this. Medical results. Creates a human form of Mad Cow Disease called Kuru. |
| Posted by: NN2N1 2023-01-16 06:54 |