Ancient mass grave found on Olympics site
LONDON - An ancient burial pit containing 45 severed skulls,
that could be a mass war grave dating back to Roman times, has been
found under a road being built for the 2012 British Olympics.
Archaeologists, who have only just begun excavating the site,
say they do not yet know who the bones might belong to.
"We think that these dismembered bodies are likely to be native
Iron Age Britons. The question is -- how did they die and who
killed them," said dig head, David Score, of Oxford
Archaeology.
"Were they fighting amongst themselves? Were they executed by
the Romans? Did they die in a battle with the Romans?
"The exciting scenario for us possibly is that there were
skirmishes with the invading Romans and that's how they ended up
chopped up in a pit," he told Reuters.
When the main Roman invasion force landed in Britain in AD 43,
Claudius' legions moved swiftly through western England to subdue
fierce Celtic tribes.
The skulls and other bones were unearthed at a place called
Ridgeway Hill, on the construction site of a new major relief road
to Weymouth, on the Dorset coast in southwest England.
The seaside town -- in the heart of Thomas Hardy country -- is
to host sailing events for the London Olympics.
The grave site is close to Maiden Castle -- Europe's largest
Iron Age hill fort where local tribes are said to have staged a
last stand against the Roman legions after the invasion.
Some historians believe the Romans sacked the site, butchering
its population including women and children, before burning it to
the ground.
Score said they had counted 45 skulls so far in the 6-meter wide
pit, together with a tangle of torsos, arms and legs, More could be
found in the coming weeks.
Most of the skulls were those of young men, supporting the
theory they could have been killed in battle or executed en
masse.
"One of the things that we will be looking for is do they have
sword cut marks on the bones, and how were the heads dismembered:
prior to or after death in an act of victory," Score said.
Archaeologists say they could also be Roman citizens or
indigenous people who had died through disease or disaster.
Few artifacts have so far been found with the bones, though
pottery shards dating to the late Iron Age and early Roman period
have been found scattered around the pit.
"It is rare to find a burial site like this one," Score said.
"There are lots of different types of burial where skeletons may be
aligned along a compass axis or in a crouched position, but to find
something like this is just incredible."
--Yahoo news