Creepy Archaeological Discoveries

5/11/2025

by M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
Skeletons discovered in long-forgotten graveyards provide proof of not only gruesome deaths but the poor quality of life they led.

The coliseum was not the only place gladiators were set to fight each other and animals

THE GLADIATORS' CEMETERY
The Romans founded York, then known as Eboracum around 71 A.D. In 2004 a housing development unearthed an unexpected find at Driffield Terrace (UK). It turned out to be the graveyard for about eighty skeletons, with sixty being totally complete. The settlement dated back to when the area was part of the northern Roman Empire, and was in use until the late 4th century.

Seventy-five skeleton belonged to tall men, aged in their mid-40s. Each had been decapitated and the heads placed between their legs or on their body. They were buried inside the city precincts, and it was common for defeated gladiators to be decapitated.

The gladiator who belonged to Bestiarii who specialized in fighting animals.

There was evidence of trauma on the bones, which indicated they were either gladiators or soldiers, however the care with which they were interred points to them being gladiators.

One of the skeletons bore a large carnivore bite mark on his pelvis, probably inflicted by a lion, tiger or bear. This supports the theory that he was probably a gladiator who belonged to Bestiarii who specialized in fighting animals.

The wounds the men suffered during life show they were medically treated. This correlates with the fact that owners of gladiators saw them as investments worthy of being treated for injuries, so they could fight again.

Seven of the remains were processed for genetic profiles, six were from Britain and one was a Ptolemaic Egyptian or from the Near East. The presence of some women's skeletons is still unexplained.

These men might have lived violently, but they were given a respectful burial. Grave goods were buried with them, and there is evidence of funeral feasts, which was a custom of the Romans at that time. One man was buried with joints of meat from pigs, cows and horses.

Louise de Quengo, Lady of Brefeillac died in 1656 and her grave was found in 2014

LADY OF BREFEILLAC
Louise de Quengo, Lady of Brefeillac died in 1656, and was buried at the Convent of the Jacobins in northwestern France. Her husband Toussaint Perrien, Knight of Brefeillac preceded her in death seven years before. She then became a nun at the Convent of the Jacobins. Before being buried his heart was removed, embalmed and placed in a heart-shaped urn. This was kept safe until the Lady of Brefeillac died when she was in her 60s, and it was placed inside her tomb with her.

It was inscribed thus: "This is the heart of Toussaint de Perrien, Knight of Brefeillac, whose body lies at the Savior near Carhay in the convent of the Discalced Carmelites that he founded and died at Rennes the 30th of August, 1649."

Examination of her remains found she was not embalmed and her heart was missing, which means it was probably buried with her husband. His grave was close to hers.

Pathologies revealed: arterial atherosclerosis, bilateral kidney stones, bilateral pleural adhesions and an intentional cranial deformity. There was no sign of trauma on her body to explain her death.

The other four lead coffins, which was usually reserved for wealthy aristocrats also had urns in the coffins with the deceased, indicating the hearts of their spouses had been buried with them.

A 3D reconstruction with volume rendering of the head, frontal view (Source-JFR)

During a rescue excavation in 2014, the lady's well-preserved body was found at a construction site in Rennes. Sealed in a lead coffin, she was wearing a cape, brown twill dress, a linen shirt, stocking and dark-soled shoes. Her face was covered by a shroud, two bonnets and a cap held by headband.

Her lead coffin was one of five among 800 graves. She lay in repose under a stone tomb in the chapel of St. Joseph Covent, which dates back to 1369. The convent grounds became a cemetery until 1793 when the French Revolutionary Army began to use it as a barracks and a sports club.

Rennes is an ancient city that dates back 2,000 years and was first a Gaulish village named Condate. Due to its location along the Via Osismii the Romans considered it an important settlement. In 275, they constructed a city wall to keep the settlement safe from barbarians.

Louise de Quengo was reinterred in September, 2015, after consulting with her descendants at a cemetery in the shadow of the Chateau de Tonquedec, which in the 17th century belonged to her brother.

When the mummy was first discovered by a group of mountaineers in 1985 it was found half buried at the base of the Pirámide mountain near Aconcagua, in Argentina's province of Mendoza.

ACONGAGUA MUMMY
In 1985, mountain climbers in Argentina found the mummified remains of a 7-year-old boy, sacrificed about 500 years ago. He had been left to die of cold at 17,500 feet. He was found covered in vomit, red pigment, and fecal remains.

Like the story made into a film The Hunger Games, the Inca (Inka) people offered their children as tribute in a practice called capacocha. The most substantial requirement was to be an unblemished virgin.

Parents of the children were forbidden to show grief during the event of when their child was chosen. It's confirmed that prior to sacrifice the victims were cared for including their diet. Examination of the child's remains reflect that in the year and a half before his death, his diet consisted primarily of maize, quinoa, capsicum, potatoes and charqui (meat from a llama). Before the child was chosen for the sacrifice, his diet was primarily marine-based.

Once a child was chosen, they would be sent to the city of Cuzco. It's believed the children were chosen from the families of chiefs. When they arrived in Cuzco there was a celebration involving animal sacrifice and symbolic marriages to other groups within the Inca Empire. Sometimes older children of lower status were sacrificed as servants. After a time of preparation the victim would be trekked to the sacrificial site high on a mountain or volcano, and then drugged before being walled alive to die of exposure. The children chosen for capacocha were between the ages of six and fifteen.

Some mummies have been found with trauma to the skull, and there is debate if they were not knocked out to lessen their suffering.

Illustration by Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala (1615). This image depicts the ritual of Capacocha.

Due to the extreme cold and dry conditions of its high altitude burial location, the remains were well-preserved.

DNA was extracted from the Aconcagua mummy via a lung biopsy, and the mitochondrial genome was sequenced. A new haplogroup, which had not previously been found in modern populations was found and named C1bi; it's believed to be about 14,000 years old. This is familiar with the Wari (Huari) people which predated the Inca. The Y-DNA analysis showed the boy's male lineage is closest to the Choppca people from Huancavelica, a Quechua-speaking population, and clusters closer to modern Quechua-speaking peoples than Aymara-speaking peoples.

Recent analysis of DNA from ancient occupants of Machu Picchu and Cuzco found that the people originated from different regions and confirms the Inca practice of mitmakunas, which is the forced resettlement of large amount of people to be used as forced labor in certain areas. Populations were moved from southern Colombia to the north of Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia and northwest Argentina.

If it wasn't for the storm, the boys bones would have remained undiscovered

THE BOY IN THE TREE
In 2015, a winter storm in Collooney, Ireland blew over a beech tree that was over 200 years old. Workers found a mass of bones entangled in the exposed roots.

The skeleton belonged to a teenager who died between 1030 and 1200. He measured 5'10" in height, which was tall for the times he lived in. This indicates he came from a Gaelic family with good social status.

His ribs and hands showed signs of knife marks, confirming he died a violent death. He was stabbed repeatedly in the chest, and the wounds to his hand indicates a defensive posture during the attack. Despite evidence he might have been murdered he was given a formal Christian burial. His shallow grave was aligned east-west and he was placed in the grave with his hands folded over his pelvic region.

Records dating back to the 19th-century indicate a church and graveyard were somewhere in the vicinity, but since no other remains have been found, it's not known if perhaps he was murdered and his corpse secreted away.

An exhibit shows the life of a neanderthal family in a cave in the new Neanderthal Museum in the northern town of Krapina c.2010

THE SKELETONS OF ATAPUERCA
In a cave in the Atapuerca Mountains in northern Spain, the bones of 28 persons of various Homo species was found. This 430,000 year old graveyard received remains placed there purposely. One of the skulls had a wound on it that couldn't be explained by a fall, or post-mortem trauma. This indicates the person was murdered either with an ax or a spear.

The location is known as the Sima de los Huesos (Pit of Bones) and is about 100 feet underground, and 1500 feet from the cave system's nearest entrance.

Bone fragments found in the Gran Dolina cavern date back to 800,000 years ago. This is the oldest known hominid settlement in Western Europe.

In 2013, DNA was taken from a thigh bone of a person who died 400,000 years ago. The mitochondrial DNA did not match Neanderthals which was the initial theory, but closer to Denisovans that lived in Siberia.

In 2008, in a cave called Sima del Elefante (Pit of the Elephant) an adult human jawbone was found that dates back to more than 1.1 million years.

By these findings it is evident that this cave system was used by several different series of humans throughout thousands of years.

A skull from Sima de los Huesos showing evidence of blunt force trauma

Tools and animal fossils were also recovered, which proves that animals were butchered in the cave. Pollen found in the remains of small animals indicate the environment was a humid forest landscape.

The deformed skull of a girl who lived to be around 12 years old, was also found in the pit, which suggests the tribe cared for her. "There’s a hint of something human – caring for the disabled."

Another find in Atapuerca were the remains of an older man with severe back problems, which could not have taken care of himself, unless the community provided for him.

In 2010, the Neanderthal genome was first sequenced. This revealed the Neanderthals interbred with modern humans.

Neanderthal genes in modern human is apparent by lighter skin color. The gene variant on chromosome 9 is carried by 70% of Europeans today. Another Neanderthal gene variant regulates keratinocytes which protects the skin against ultraviolet radiation. Another variant is associated with a greater risk of sunburn, and around 66% of Europeans carry a Neanderthal allele linked to poor tanning ability.

The mummified corpse of John Torrington. He died Jan. 1, 1846

THE FATE OF JOHN TORRINGTON
It was the mid-19th century and explorers all hoped to make history. Such was the case when Sir John Franklin organized an arctic expedition in 1845. The aim was to navigate the Northwest Passage. They sailed with 3 years worth of food and 134 men on board. The HMS Terror and the HMS Erebus were trapped in ice off King William Island, which failed to melt during two succeeding summers.

In 1859, a letter dated 1848 was found under a cairn in Canada's Victoria Point. It was written by Francis Crozier who took command of the Terror after Admiral Franklin died. He noted that 24 men perished, and the rest of the crew were heading out in hopes of reaching a trading post hundreds of miles away. They all died along the way.

The British Navy sent out search parties, but not until 1850 did they stumble on an unexpected clue of what happened to the expedition. On uninhabited Beechey Island, three unmarked graves dating to 1846 were found.

In 1854, a Scottish explorer came across Inuits in Pelly Bay who had some of the belongings of the Franklin crew. They told of piles of human bones scattered in the area, some of them cracked in half, which indicated the men had fed on each other before they froze to death.

During the 1980s and 1990s, further research was conducted on remains found on King William Island, which showed knife marks. Not only did they eat their fellow crew members, they didn't wait for them to die, but killed them, driven by the throes of hunger.

In 1984, one of the bodies buried on Beechey Island was exhumed from under five feet of permafrost. He was found to be in pristine condition. John Torrington, 20, died on January 1, 1846. He was neither killed nor cannibalized, he weighed only 88 pounds indicating he was malnourished. He had deadly levels of lead inside his body. Possibly the crew's canned food was poorly packaged and became poisonous.

The three corpses found on Beechey Island remain buried there to this day. The Erebus was discovered in 2014 in 36 feet of water off King William Island, and the HMS Terror was found two years later in Terror Bay, 45 miles away from the Erebus. Why the ships separated is unknown. Another mystery is why the Terror sunk since there was no breach in the hull, and it wasn't crushed by ice. It appeared to "have sunk swiftly and suddenly and settled gently to thee bottom. What happened?"

First case of leprosy found in a skeleton in India, dating back 4,000 years.

THE FIRST LEPER
In 1997, a 4,000 year old skeleton found in Rajasthan, India was identified as the first case of leprosy. Balathal where the remains were found was an agrarian settlement at the margins of the Indus Civilization.

There was stigma against this disease even then, since he was buried instead of cremated as called for by Hindu tradition. The skeleton was found in a stone enclosure filled with burned cow dung, a substance thought to be purifying. This would only be done to those deemed unfit to be burned.

Hindu tradition dictates burial when the person is highly respected or in this case unfit for cremation. Others that are buried are outcasts, pregnant women, children under 5 years of age and victims of magic or a curse.

Leprosy damages the nerves which leads to an inability to feel pain, the respiratory tract, skin and eyes. There is also muscle weakness and diminished eyesight. Symptoms can appear within one year, but for some people it can take 20 years. The average incubation period is five years.

9 banded armadillo

The disease spread from Asia to Europe with Alexander the Great's army after 400 B.C. Leprosy originated in Africa during the Late Pleistocene and the bacteria M. leprae spread out of Africa sometime after 40,000 years ago.

The bacteria that causes it (Mycobacterium leprae) is difficult to culture for research and has only one other animal host, the nine banded armadillo. This is due since armadillos maintain a very low body temperature in which the bacterium can thrive.

It's transmitted through contact with droplets from the nose and mouth of an infected person, and occurs more commonly among people living in poverty.

In the past, leper colonies were established on islands to make sure they did not have contact with the general population.

In 2020, there were less than 200,000 cases worldwide, with most new cases occurring in one of 14 countries with India accounting for more than half of all new cases.

Researchers working in a 4,300-year-old Mesopotamian building identified an acrobat’s lower body lying between the headless remains of two other individuals, all of whom were apparently ritually sacrificed.

THE UNLUCKY ACROBAT
In 2008, evidence of human sacrifice was found in an ancient building in Nagar, a city that belonged to Mesopotamia’s Akkadian Empire, presently known as Syria. Three human skeletons, all headless lay side-by-side next to several mules and an array of valuable metal objects.

One of the human remains showed unusual injuries and overdeveloped areas for ligaments and bones, indicating he was possibly an acrobat. Under mysterious circumstances around 2,300 B.C., these entertainers apparently ranked high enough in this ancient city's social sphere to serve as sacrificial offerings.

Once the bodies were left there, it was filled with dirt and abandoned. This initially made archaeologist believe it was a random killing, however the building was formerly used for breeding and trading mules used to pull war wagons and the kings' chariots. The spot was the center of a temple dedicated to Sakkan (Šumugan, Šamagan, or Šumuqan), god of animals of the steppe or the "shepherd of everything." This seemed an unusual place to dispose of random dead bodies. Further inspection points to the possibility they were killed ritualistically to represent a "deliberate sacrifice of valued creatures."

Depictions using equids from this time period in Mesopotamia

It's believed they were members of a "mysterious group of people from Brak-Nagar, known in the text as húb or húb.ki which could be translated as acrobat, juggler or horseman."

The donkey bones found with the bodies were thought to be draft animals, but considering the building was associated with hybrid kunga equids, which preceded the use of horses in Mesopotamia, there is a significance to the three humans left there.

A genome sequence of these animals found they are hybrids between female domestic donkeys and male hemippes (Syrian wild asses).

Ancient cuneiform texts record that 43 courtyards in the building housed these animals. These same sources indicate these were very expensive to buy and keep.

Silver jewelry was found on top of the fill that covered the bodies. It's theorized the building was abandoned and closed by ritual due to a natural disaster.