GRISLY HISTORY: Roman-era skeletons found with heads hacked off and bricks in skulls
Decapitated heads, bricks stuffed into skulls, and bodies dumped in ditches are just a few of the grisly discoveries made by Britain's largest ever archaeological project. All of them were discovered during the construction of the HS2 high-speed railway.
Thousands of scientists and archaeologists are now meticulously cataloguing and eliminating any traces of our history on the route from London to Birmingham. In the nation's forgotten resting sites, even the tombs of our forefathers were permitted to collapse into obscurity. The remains of 40 decapitated skeletons from the Roman era were discovered recently in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Some people's heads were buried between their legs or adjacent to their feet.
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Historians believe the people were outcasts from Roman society and that this could be a hint of an ancient cult. As part of the project, more than 70,000 remains have been transported to new resting places from more than 100 locations along the HS2 network. St James's Cemetery in London, where the archaeology project is believed to be Europe's greatest exhumation, is also on the itinerary. At the other end of the road, in Birmingham, evidence surfaced to back up stories about real-life Peaky Blinders gangs brawling in Park Street Cemetery.
Archaeologists working on UK's HS2 construction find 40 beheaded Roman skeletons with skulls between their legs https://t.co/EB56NNDryg pic.twitter.com/PBu59dE1OO
— European Association of Archaeologists (@archaeologyEAA) February 7, 2022
"We learned from local historians that the gangs were slogging in the burial grounds," Helen Wass, who has worked on the project for more than a decade, told The Sun. Helen and her crew began mapping out the sites of interest along the path of the £100 billion high-speed rail line even before the first spades were put into the ground in 2018.
They understood Park Street and St James's would be massive enterprises from the start. To make space for the expansion of Euston Station, the burial ground in London had to be demolished. The initial plan for this 18th century graveyard was for 16,000 burials, but due to the pressures of an ever-expanding capital, the HS2 team discovered 60,000. The majority of the tombstones were removed in 1887 so that the cemetery could be converted into a public garden.
The vast majority of the others lacked nameplates, even though their remains were identified. "These were the people who built our great cities," Helen explained, "Some were famous and some were not." In Park Street Burial Ground in the Midlands, there was evidence of gruesome mistreatment of the dead. "Unusual objects have been left where the brain would have been, and they include a brick, a marmalade jar and a small wine glass," Helen, HS2's Head of Heritage, remarked, "Very curious."
Helen said: "The suspicion is that it is to do with the teaching hospitals. Some of it may simply be the anatomists and students possibly reburying dissections."
At Park Street, there were almost 6,500 burials. Many of the corpses showed indications of scurvy or rickets, and others were discovered with a bowl of salt to fend off evil. And, aside from sickness, individuals endured many other tragedies a century ago.
Historians described how the street gangs depicted in the BBC series 'Peaky Blinders' would attack one other among the graves in Park Street with belts, buckles, and heavy boots. While legend has it that gangsters' peaked caps concealed blades to be used as weapons, it was also fashionable to wear them slanted over one eye, which was thus blinded by the peak. Helen said: “We are all fascinated by Peaky Blinders the series and it is interesting to learn that the caps did not necessarily have razors in them.”
Britain's history of barbarism dates back considerably further than 200 years, as the HS2 excavations have revealed. The discovery of a Roman colony in a field near Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, was one of the biggest surprises.