More decapitated Romano-British skeletons found on HS2 route

[Duncan Head]

In Buckinghamshire - https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/feb/05/decapitated-roman-skeletons-found-on-hs2-route-near-aylesbury

See https://soa.org.uk/sm/index.php?topic=5357 for earlier ones from Cambridgeshire.

[Imperial Dave]

people were losing their heads over HS2 even back then.....

[Ian61]

Yes I saw this on the BBC site. Debating if these were criminals to be so treated I was surprised by the phrase, "decapitation was a "normal, albeit marginal" part of burial during the late Roman period." Really? I am sure someone in the Society can enlighten us, it isn't traditional Roman as they cremated and I've never heard of that as pat of a Christian burial, so is this a Germanic import or one of the Eastern cults?

[Duncan Head]

Slavery and crime were both "normal", albeit in the latter case perhaps marginal, parts of Roman life, so I am not sure how this observation tells against the identification of the decapitated deceased as either slaves or crims.

[Anton]

I'm not getting this either.  I can see that those who had been judicially beheaded might be interred with their heads and that slaves might betimes suffer that fate. I'm not aware of this type of burial being normal, albeit marginal.  We have seen it before though I think.

[Erpingham]

I've not studied the archaeology but I am aware that decapitation burials are quite widespread in Roman Britain, especially in 4th century contexts.  That might account for a description of "normal" as in something not unexpected, like my doctor telling me the normal side effects associated with a drug.  Not common enough to be mainstream, though, so the practice must be considered marginal.

I guess they are suggesting there may be explanations with in the normal run of things, rather than just an execution based suggestion.

[Anton]

That works better for me.  I could imagine that victims of violence could be buried like that by surviving members of their community.  Raids sort of thing.