(ORDO NEWS) — A few years ago, in Central Italy, archaeologists found burials of the 5th century AD. The children buried in them were crushed by stones.
Now scientists have shown that this original way of burial was due to the fact that the locals were afraid of the “return” of the dead.
Back in the 1980s, scientists began working in the Poggio Gramignano archaeological site in Central Italy.
Historians have studied an ancient Roman villa dating back to the 5th century AD, the last century of the Roman Empire.
At this time, the main religion of the state was Christianity, the empire was subjected to regular raids by barbarians and fell to pieces. She finally died in 476.
Decades of excavations at Poggio Gramignano have brought many discoveries to science. For example, archaeologists have found many remains of dogs, especially puppies.
According to the beliefs of the Romans of the 5th century, dogs (especially puppies) protected children’s burials, also discovered earlier.
The children buried near the villa immediately turned out to be an interesting object for research.
The fact is that each children’s burial was unusual. For example, one child had mortar poured into their mouth after death. Others had heavy stones placed on their limbs.
In 2018, when archaeologists first found these remains, the media speculated that the children were believed to be vampires. To contain the “evil force”, the Romans resorted to such specific burial methods.
However, now, after conducting additional research, scientists have refuted the “vampire” theory. “Evil forces” are still involved, but the Romans were probably not afraid of vampires, but of zombies.
In those days, both Christians and pagans were very afraid of the undead and mysterious dark forces (like witches) that could use the dead for their own purposes.
Therefore, the ancient Romans weighed down the remains of children.
It is difficult to raise your head with mortar frozen in your mouth, and even more so if your arms and legs are crushed by stones. Therefore, thanks to such burials, the living could not be afraid of the dead.
At the same time, the analysis showed that many of the buried children had malaria.
Perhaps a severe outbreak of malaria spurred the development of mystical concepts and the Romans tried to distance themselves from the infected.
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