The ritual of burial and burial is an integral part of human existence. Since ancient times, the bodies of the dead were interred or acted in other ways, for example, burned. Different social and cultural groups have their own customs and traditions of funerals. For example, Catholics and Christians differ in the shape of the cross and its location; among Muslims, it is customary to bury the body in cloth or in a carpet. But some of the discovered burials are striking in their unusualness, which makes them unique and interesting to study. Here are the most unusual ones.
1
Grave with babies
In the town of Pachacamake, which is located near the Peruvian Lima, they found a grave with eighty bodies buried in about 1000 A.D. These were the children of a people called Ichma, who inhabited those lands before the Incas. The bodies of half of them belonged to adults who were in the position of the embryo. The bodies were wrapped in cloth. Over the bodies lay dummy heads made of clay and wood. The second half consisted of children under one year old, located around adult bodies.
These small bodies were probably sacrificed for some kind of rite. All bodies were buried at one time. Representatives of the Ichma people sacrificed babies, as shown by other burials. But this is not known for certain, since no obvious signs of this were found.
Analysis of adult bodies showed that they have various diseases, such as cancer, genital infections, and others. Perhaps they arrived at this place to find healing. The grave also found many animal skeletons, such as dogs, llamas, cats and others. They were also sacrificed. By the way, about the most beautiful dog breeds on most-beauty.ru there is an interesting article with many photos.
2
Skeletal spiral
In the city of Tlalpan, which is located on the territory of modern Mexico, archaeologists have found a grave, 2400 years old. There were ten bodies in it, which themselves formed the shape of a spiral. One body partially covered the next body, and the legs were directed toward the center of the circle. The hands of the dead were bound with each other on both sides. Moreover, the head of one deceased was on the chest area of another. Among the deceased were both adult men and women, as well as adolescents and infants.
Two bodies had a change in the shape of the head, which were made artificially. Some had grinded teeth in various forms, which was often found at that time. The cause of their death, as well as a strange form of burial, is still unknown.
3
Buried standing
The next interesting burial was found near Berlin. A male skeleton was found in the grave of the Mesolithic era, which was already 7 thousand years old. It is noteworthy that this man was buried in an upright position, which is very unusual.
At first, his body was on his knees. Over time, the trunk and other bones formed shapelessly, but the analysis showed exactly the vertical position of the body initially. There were also stone and bone products in the grave, showing that this man was a hunter and led quite an ordinary life.
Similar burials were found on the territory of Karelia in Russia. Among other graves, four bodies were found, which were also upright.
It was not possible to find a connection between the German and Russian burial places, which raises even more questions for scientists.
4
Sacrificed Children
In Derbyshire, England, a grave with many bodies was found, in which 300 Viking warriors were buried. The burial itself was not something remarkable, but next to it they found a grave of four people who were from 8 to 18 years old. The children were placed with their backs to each other, and the jaw of a sheep was laid in the legs.
These children were buried at the same time as those wars, which immediately prompts a connection between them. Also, two children's skeletons found traces of injuries that caused death.
Comparing these facts, scientists came to the conclusion that the children were sacrificed. Perhaps the Vikings believed that children's souls would help accompany the souls of warriors in the afterlife. But this is only a hunch.
5
Pierced man
In English Poklington discovered an ancient burial related to the Iron Age. It was a system of mounds in which 14 voids with graves with more than 160 bodies were found. In one of the mounds, a man was found who was no older than 20-25 years old. He was buried with his sword about 2.5 thousand years ago.
What was the peculiarity of his burial?
After he was put in the mound, he was pierced with five spears. Four spears stuck along the ridge, and one in the groin area. The spears were set so that their ends protruded on the surface of the earth and all could see them. Scientists believe that this young man was an excellent warrior, and he wanted to free his spirit with this rite.
6
The woman who was tied in life
In the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, the burial of a woman was found in the Roman fortress Nebet Tepe, dating from the XIII-XIV century. It was different from the rest in that the woman lay face down with her hands tied behind her back.
Although burial places with faces turned down were found all over the world, a bound body is a very unusual occurrence. Presumably, this method of burial served as a form of punishment for any crime. In addition, his hands were tied during his lifetime and placed in a coffin. It is hard to imagine why they could so cruelly crack down on that poor woman.
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7
The Great Pit of Death
During excavations near the city of Ur at the very beginning of the last century, six graves were found without any traces of tombstones and tombs, which they called "death pits."
But the so-called "Great Pit of Death" makes a greater impression. 68 female bodies and 6 male bodies were found in it.
The men rested at the entrance to the pit. In hands were spears and swords, and on their heads were helmets. It is believed that they guarded the entrance to the burial site.
Most of the female bodies were evenly located at the northwestern edge of the grave and lay in four rows. Along the other edges were two more groups of female bodies of six people each. It was determined that every woman wore rich robes and jewelry made of precious stones.
But the jewelry and headgear of one woman was especially different from the rest. These things resembled those of the Sumerian Queen Poabi. It is believed that this woman was a very important person of her time, and the rest of the dead were in the role of escorting their mistress to the best afterlife.
It is not known whether these women passed away on their own or were sacrificed. Only two skeletons found traces of blows to the head. In others, no visible damage was found. Researchers believe that the deceased consumed poison, and two died from a blow to the head.
Be that as it may, this burial hides many more secrets behind itself. For modern man, such rituals and sacrifices seem wild and meaningless, but at that time there were different beliefs and rituals for which not only animals but also people were sacrificed.
8
Mass graves with babies
Mass graves in which the tiny bodies of infants were found, unusual and frightening. Only a few such burials have been discovered. Bones belonging to more than one hundred babies have been found in Israeli Ashkelon. They were found in ancient Roman sewers. Researchers were not able to detect traces of disease or some other natural cause of death. Perhaps they were killed in order to control the birth rate.
Another similar burial with ninety-seven infants was found in Hambland, England. It is assumed that they were all children of women from brothels and simply got rid of them. Also, perhaps, these were stillborn children, who were buried in one place.
Another mass grave was found in the Athenian well. It dates from 165 BC They found about 500 small skeletons, more than 100 dog skeletons and 1 adult skeleton, which had different physical deformities. A third of them died from various infections, while the rest died for unclear reasons. No evidence of violent death could be found. Since babies in those days were considered human beings only after 7-10 days of life, they got rid of them in such a barbaric and unceremonious way.
9
Several skulls
On the island of Ifatu Vanuarti, archaeologists unearthed a cemetery that was 3,000 years old and 50 skeletons were exhumed. Not a single skeleton had a skull. For the Lapita tribes that inhabited those lands at that time, this was considered the norm in the burial of people. They believed that by removing their head after death, they thereby release the human spirit to freedom. They themselves laid the skulls in a common altar.
All the skeletons lay in a chaotic manner, but the four bodies lay strictly south. An analysis of the isotopes showed that these people were not from those places. One of the "foreigners" was buried with three skulls taken from others. This was the only such burial and indicated a special honor and admiration for this man.
10
Mixed Mummies
After studying the ancient burial sites in the territory of modern Britain, researchers have revealed the fact of the creation of 16 mummies of bodies between 2200 BC and 700 BC
The climate of Britain is probably the most inappropriate for mummification. Constant humidity, damp weather does not contribute to the preservation of the body. Therefore, smoking technology was used for these mummies, and then they were lowered into peat bogs.
Mummies were not very different from mummies that were found in other parts of the world. However, some of them consisted of fragments of different bodies. It recalls the story of Frankenstein and his monster. Presumably, only some parts were preserved from other mummies and a whole body was assembled from them.