About Me

I'm a PhD student researching the role of the archaeological dead in contemporary British society. Think of this as a scrapbook of all the interesting links, snippets of information and random bits and bobs I come across pertaining to death, dying and the dead. Enjoy?!

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    Mysterious 1200AD temple under Mexico City has bodies of 15 children - and a dog slain to keep them company in the afterlife  Archaeologists in Mexico City have unearthed the skulls and other bones of 15 people, most of them the children of traveling merchants during Aztec times.  The mysterious mass grave had a ceremonial purpose, researchers say - and the children were surrounded by religious items including a dog sacrificed to ‘keep them company.’ It pains me to link to stories from the Daily Mail, it really does, but this is an interesting discovery and so needs must!

    Mysterious 1200AD temple under Mexico City has bodies of 15 children - and a dog slain to keep them company in the afterlife 

    Archaeologists in Mexico City have unearthed the skulls and other bones of 15 people, most of them the children of traveling merchants during Aztec times. 

    The mysterious mass grave had a ceremonial purpose, researchers say - and the children were surrounded by religious items including a dog sacrificed to ‘keep them company.’

    It pains me to link to stories from the Daily Mail, it really does, but this is an interesting discovery and so needs must!

    Is anatomy different in Peru?

    Time once again for my favorite game: “What’s wrong with this skeleton?”  Today’s contestant comes from an NPR piece “Finders, Not Keepers: Yale Returns Artifacts to Peru”.  I’m guessing NPR itself didn’t take the photo - likely someone at Yale did - but the errors are egregious. 

    Have at it, commenters.  How many things can you find wrong with this picture?

    Once you’re done with that, see previous episodes of “What’s wrong with that skeleton?” - here courtesy the Daily Mail, here from Staffordshire University, and here from Bones.

    A most humerus game…geddit?! 

    Studying old bones — preservation or perversion?

    A cross-border battle is brewing over 500-year-old bones belonging to some of Ontario’s original inhabitants — a case descendents describe as academic grave robbing.

    The Huron-Wendat Nation is demanding that Louisiana State University return the “stolen” remains of about 200 people. They say researchers improperly gathered the bones from an Ontario ossuary to use for unauthorized student research.

    “It’s a feeling of loss — and I get angry a little bit too because (remains) have no business being in universities or museums,” says retired translator Heather Bastien of Wendake, Que., whose prehistoric ancestors first hunted, fished and farmed in southern Ontario 15,000 years ago.

    The unusual dispute raises questions about the best way for academics to be culturally sensitive — particularly when studying human remains — in a CSI generation that considers bones a DNA treasure trove of clues to scientific, historic, medical and, sometimes, criminal puzzles.

    Oxford Viking Massacre Revealed by Skeleton Find Evidence of a brutal massacre of Vikings in Oxford 1100 years ago has been uncovered by archaeologists. At least 35 skeletons, all males aged 16 to 25 were discovered in 2008 at St John’s College, Oxford. Analysis of wound marks on the bones now suggests they had been subjected to violence. Archaeologists analysing the find believe it dates from 1002 AD when King Ethelred the Unready ordered a massacre of all Danes (Vikings) in England. The surprise discovery of the skeletons was made by Thames Valley Archaeological Services under the quadrangle at St John’s College at the University of Oxford, before building work started on the site. The bodies had not received any type of formal burial and they had been dumped in a mass grave on the site of a 4,000-year-old Neolithic henge monument. Ceri Falys, an osteologist (a scientist who studies the structure of bones) from Thames Valley Archaeological Services, has been examining the bones since they were excavated. She has found a host of gruesome injuries on each of the individuals. Click the photo for further details…

    Oxford Viking Massacre Revealed by Skeleton Find

    Evidence of a brutal massacre of Vikings in Oxford 1100 years ago has been uncovered by archaeologists.

    At least 35 skeletons, all males aged 16 to 25 were discovered in 2008 at St John’s College, Oxford.

    Analysis of wound marks on the bones now suggests they had been subjected to violence.

    Archaeologists analysing the find believe it dates from 1002 AD when King Ethelred the Unready ordered a massacre of all Danes (Vikings) in England.

    The surprise discovery of the skeletons was made by Thames Valley Archaeological Services under the quadrangle at St John’s College at the University of Oxford, before building work started on the site.

    The bodies had not received any type of formal burial and they had been dumped in a mass grave on the site of a 4,000-year-old Neolithic henge monument.

    Ceri Falys, an osteologist (a scientist who studies the structure of bones) from Thames Valley Archaeological Services, has been examining the bones since they were excavated. She has found a host of gruesome injuries on each of the individuals.

    Click the photo for further details…

    Britsh Association for Bioarchaeology and Osteoarchaeology (BABAO)

    This association aims to draw together all areas of analysis of human remains and the study of human bioarchaeology. It is aimed at all individuals, at any level and membership is warmly welcomed from private individuals as well as those in units, universities, museums, and local societies.

    For more info, click here…