The bodies are likely 1,600 years old and a subsequent investigation suggests the heads came off after the people died

A mysterious cluster of decapitated skeletons, including the remains of children, was uncovered during excavations for a housing development in England.

The unusual placement of the heads of the well-preserved Roman-era remains at or between the legs or feet — in one case, tucked under a knee — makes the archeological find a curious and significant discovery, researchers say.

Distroscale

Despite the adjective in its name, the village of Great Whelnetham, Suffolk, in eastern England, is a small patch of suburbia set among the English countryside, about 130 kilometres northeast of London. Its population in 2011 was 849 and its primary landmark is a 13th-century church.

The place, however, has human history going much further back.

The first evidence of previous Roman settlements in the area came from found pottery shards and coins and, in 1964, a pottery kiln and Roman burials were uncovered, despite there being no defined Roman road known to have run through Great Whelnetham.

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The incisions through the neck were post-mortem and were neatly placed just behind the jaw

Plans for 35 new homes by the Havebury Housing Partnership, a not-for-profit affordable and social housing association, called for archeological assessments as part of the development.

Archaeological Solutions, a private archeological contractor, monitored by the local county archeological service, conducted excavations at two areas.

The first, a boundary ditch, was found to contain high-status Roman pottery, including several glossy dishes imported from Gaul and colour-coated beakers decorated with running stags, made in Colchester, the oldest recorded Roman town in Britain, located 45 kilometres south, suggesting the ditch went out of use and was backfilled around AD150-220, archeologists reported.

The second site proved to be far more astounding.

Photo by Courtesy Archaeological Solutions

That’s where they found the bodies.

Archeologists weren’t expecting much in the way of significant remains as the ground is notably sandy, which leads to skeletal degradation and disintegration.

Even more surprising than the number and good condition of the bones was how the bodies had been buried.

Of the 52 mostly complete skeletons, only 17 were buried in the normal Roman way, which is lying on the back, much as we inter bodies today. The rest were what scientists call “deviant” burials. Some were buried face down and others crouched.

An execution would cut lower through the neck and with violent force, and this is not present anywhere

Most striking, however, were the 17 full skeletons that were decapitated, with the head placed between the legs or feet. One skull was found tucked under the right knee of the body. Another four skulls were buried without a body at all.

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The decapitated remains were of men, women and at least one child. In all, 60 per cent of the graves were classed as “deviant,” meaning the oddities were the norm in this graveyard, which is unusual, said archeologist Andrew Peachey, of Archaeological Solutions.

His first concern was whether the people had been executed.

The bodies are likely 1,600 years old and a subsequent investigation suggests the heads came off after the people died.

“The incisions through the neck were post-mortem and were neatly placed just behind the jaw,” said Peachey. “An execution would cut lower through the neck and with violent force, and this is not present anywhere.”

Photo by Courtesy Archaeological Solutions

Which leads to another mystery. Why?

“This appears to be a careful funeral rite that may be associated with a particular group within the local population,” he said. It does not appear to have been a disrespectful act, as the placement of the bodies — and the heads — suggest a degree of care was taken during burial. The bodies were probably buried in cloth shrouds as there is no evidence of coffins.

Peachey said it could have been a group of people belonging to a cult that had an unusual call for detaching the head from a body before burial in their belief system. Some pagan groups venerated heads as containers of the soul. Or, perhaps, a group that moved into the area from elsewhere in the far-flung Roman empire.

Peachey suggests possibly a labour force, or slaves from an estate elsewhere in the Roman territory.

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“We have a fairly evenly mixed population by gender, with a couple of juvenile skeletons,” Peachey said, adding the children were about nine or 10 years old.

“Most were at least middle-aged if not older. They were well nourished, and several had very robust upper arms and bodies consistent with a working agricultural population.”

They also seemed to have been well fed. Their poor dental hygiene — including many dental abscesses and lost teeth — show their diet included significant natural sugars and carbohydrates, said Peachey.

Several also carried tuberculosis, which was common in rural-agricultural populations of the time.

The remains and artifacts have been removed from the site for further examination and investigation. That clears the way for the housing development to continue.