Roman Headhunters in London

What isn't fascinating about ancient Rome? I found this extremely current article that was just published today about a research team's new findings on a set of skulls unearthed in London in 1988. According to their work published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, the 39 skulls, which were only now being studied due to several key forensic advancements, were likely victims of battle or even gladiatorial combat. Most of the skulls were young males with healed wounds, suggesting that these individuals lived violent and tumultuous lives. All were deposited in what appears to have been an open, muddy, working yard pit which has strong evidence around it of being used by shoe makers during the era. Some of the skulls also bear evidence of bite marks, likely from dogs chewing on these remains. What I find most fascinating about this new research is some of the possible explanations. From the researchers:

“We believe that some of the heads may be people who were killed in the amphitheatre. Decapitation was a way of finishing off gladiators, but not everyone who died in the Roman amphitheatre was a gladiator, it was where common criminals were executed, or sometimes for entertainment you’d give two of them swords and have them kill one another. Other heads may have been brought back by soldiers from skirmishes, probably on the Hadrian or Antonine walls – again, it would have taken weeks to bring them back, so not a nice process.”

In relation to archaeology and death, this raises some tantalizing questions about what burials and funerals would have been like in Roman London (i.e., Londinium) These "disposals" of bodies are not likely to be found within the history books and in cases like these, archaeologists have the opportunity to really shed some light on these darker sides of history.

- Aaron

Links

News article source: http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/01/2014/london-skulls-reveal-gruesome-evidence-roman-head-hunters

Journal publication sourcehttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440313004433

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