(ORDO NEWS) — Archaeologists and anthropologists from Australia and Italy noticed an unusual burial in an old photograph, excavated several decades ago in Sardinia.
It turned out that in one of the graves at the beginning of the 2nd century BC a young woman was buried in a prone position.
The study of her remains allowed scientists to hypothesize that she may have suffered from epilepsy.
Therefore, after her death, the woman was buried in an unusual position and, possibly, a nail was pierced in her head.
In the practice of archaeologists sometimes there are deviant burials. They are distinguished by an unusual funeral rite, which differs from the generally accepted in this culture.
For example, the dead could be buried outside the cemetery, placed in the grave in an unusual position, or deprived of some parts of the body.
The appearance of deviant burials could be influenced by many reasons related both to the system of beliefs and to the circumstances of life and death of people.
One of the most famous categories of non-standard burials is the graves of the so-called vampires.
Archaeologists believe that such burials contain the remains of people who were feared by others – they were afraid that the deceased would rise from their graves.
To prevent this from happening, stones were put in the mouths of the dead, they were mutilated and even nailed to the ground.
In addition, the placement of sickles and scythes on the neck or stomach was practiced, and a lock could be hung on the leg.
They could appoint a “vampire”, for example, for an unusual appearance, witchcraft, suicide, or the first victims of an epidemic.
Rossella Paba from the University of Cagliari, together with colleagues from Australia and Italy, when re-examining old photographs taken during excavations of the ancient necropolis of Monte Luna in Sardinia, drew attention to burial No. 27.
In this grave, 2.1 × 0 .8 meters, explored in the late 1970s – early 1980s, the remains of two people buried at different times were buried.
One individual, judging by the photograph, was lying face down (prone), which attracted the attention of scientists.
The grave also contained the accompanying inventory: a jar, a balsamary and other utensils, as well as two coins and several glass beads, which seem to have originally been part of a necklace.
These artifacts made it possible to date the burial to the beginning of the 2nd century BC.
Scientists decided to examine the remains of an individual buried face down. It turned out that they belonged to a young woman who died between the ages of 18 and 22.
According to anthropologists, during her lifetime, her height was about 153 centimeters, and her weight was about 49 kilograms.
On the skull of this woman, an open metopic suture is clearly visible, which is also characteristic of the second individual from the grave.
In addition, both individuals have accessory skull bones at the junction of the sagittal and lambdoid sutures.
Perhaps this indicates a genetic relationship between these people, but this can only be finally confirmed after DNA analysis.
Researchers found signs of three injuries on the woman’s bones. One of them is a healed clavicle fracture. The other two are pre-mortem or post-mortem injuries of the skull.
According to anthropologists, damage to the occipital bone is similar to what occurs as a result of a blow with a blunt object or a fall.
On the frontal bone, there is a hole measuring 9.5 × 9.5 mm, which, apparently, was pierced by an object with a quadrangular section. The researchers did not notice any signs of healing.
Scientists have put forward an interesting hypothesis about how this woman got injured, emphasizing that this version is far from the only one.
It is known from ancient sources that if a person died during an epileptic seizure, then he had to nail that part of the body in which muscle twitches began.
In this way, people tried to protect themselves from the spread of the disease, which was considered contagious. According to researchers, this woman may have suffered from epilepsy.
First, during one of the attacks, she broke her collarbone, and after some time she could also receive a fatal injury to the occipital bone, for example, by falling and hitting.
Therefore, after the death of the woman, they not only buried her face down, but also pierced her head with a nail.
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