Viking battle may be behind decapitated bodies discovered in mass grave (From Dorset Echo)

Viking battle may be behind decapitated bodies discovered in mass grave

10:40am Saturday 11th July 2009 in

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DOZENS of decapitated bodies at the top of Ridgeway Hill are believed to date from a time when Viking raiding parties were roaming the area. The remains were originally thought to be Iron Age or early Roman due to pottery from this period found in the burial pit.

However, radio carbon dating places the remains to the late Saxon period between AD 890 and AD 1030.

The remains were unearthed by archaeologists working within the Weymouth Relief Road construction site.

Oxford archaeology project manager David Score said: “There was very little other evidence in the pit apart from a few shards of pottery.

“In order to clarify the date of the remains we sent off a sample of bone for urgent radio carbon dating and amazingly the date which has come back is in the late Saxon period.

“The time period we’re now looking at is one of considerable conflict between the resident Saxon population and invading Danes. Viking raids were common and there were a series of major battles in the south of England as successive Saxon kings and Viking leaders fought for control.

“The burial location is typical of places used for executions during this time; in a prominent location and next to a main road and a parish boundary.

“It is hoped that further radio carbon dating will be able to define the date range much more closely and other scientific techniques may be able to establish the origin of the individuals; were they Saxons or Vikings?”

Since early June, archaeologists from Oxford Archaeology have been conducting the painstaking excavation of the mass burial pit. They have carefully removed the decapitated skulls from the ground – 51 in total – which were placed in one distinct area of the pit.

Bodies to go with the skulls have been found randomly placed in the pit.

Angela Boyle, senior osteologist, said: “All the remains uncovered are male and the overwhelming majority are aged from their late teens to about 25 years old, with just a small number of older individuals. As a general group they are tall, robust in stature with good teeth and appear to have had healthy lifestyles.

“Most of the skulls exhibit evidence of multiple blows to the vertebrae, jawbones and skulls with a large, very sharp weapon such as a sword.

“The lack of any other finds, such as those associated with clothing, indicates that they may have been naked when thrown into the pit.”

Careful excavation of the remains is continuing and a more detailed analysis of the bones will be undertaken.