Archaeology & History

Mystery surrounds skeleton made up of bones from 5 different people

By T.K. Randall
November 6, 2024 ·  6 comments

The skeleton was found in a fetal position. Image Credit: Barbara Veselka et al When archaeologists first discovered skeletal remains in the town of Pommeroeul in southern Belgium back in the 1970s, they initially assumed that it was a Roman burial dating back around 1,700 years.

This would seem to have been the end of the matter, but then in 2019, efforts to radiocarbon date the skeleton revealed something extraordinary that nobody could have ever expected.

While the skull did indeed date back to the Roman era, the other bones were not Roman at all.

Not only did it turn out that these other bones were from entirely different periods in time, but it was also determined that they had belonged to no fewer than five different individuals.

Someone, it seemed, had put this skeleton together like a macabre jigsaw puzzle.According to archaeologist and study lead author Barbara Veselka, it is likely that the skeleton had been revisited and perhaps even added to over an extended period of time.

"There were other bones scattered around the 'individual,' suggesting that people could also have come back to the burial," she told Live Science.

But why would someone do something like this ?

In all likelihood, researchers argue, superstition likely had a lot to do with it.

"Disturbance of the burial may have necessitated reparations through the completion or construction of an individual with agency in the afterlife," said Veselka.

"A second possibility is that the entire 'individual' was assembled during the Gallo-Roman period, combining locally sourced Neolithic bones with a Roman-period cranium."

Source: Lad Bible | Comments (6)

Tags: Skeleton, Roman