The UK is in the midst of building a massive coast-to-coast high-speed train line.
Over the course of the project, they have come across numerous archeological sites, but none as shocking as this one.
Archeologists uncovered a massive Roman-era grave holding about 400 bodies, 10 percent of which were found to have been decapitated.
Startling Discovery
The HS2 project has come across some rather interesting discoveries.
During the project’s construction, researchers have come across about 100 archeological sites.
This one, however, really got everyone’s attention.
The bodies were discovered, some of them were buried in a rather odd fashion.
They had been decapitated, with their heads placed between their legs.
Some researchers believe this offers some insight into why these individuals literally lost their heads.
HS2 stated, “One interpretation of this burial practice is that it could be the burial of criminals or a type of outcast, although decapitation is well-known elsewhere and appears to have been a normal, albeit marginal, burial rite during the late Roman period.”
In addition to the bodies with severed heads, archeologists discovered remnants of the ancient Roman village, coins, and other items that will give researchers far more insight into how the town conducted its business when it was in its heyday.
The finding of the coins was of particular note, as it leads researchers to believe this was a “trade and commerce” town.
The town would have been located along a defunct road between the former Roman cities of Verulamium and Corinium Dobunnorum.
Those towns are now called St. Albans and Cirencester, respectively.
Source: New York Post
