A Roman burying ground containing 425 skeleton – around 40 of which were behead – has been unearthed in southeast England .
The cemetery , near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire , is the great of its kind ever discovered in the county and is the late find of the controversial HS2 high - speed rail link project .
Some of the skeletons were found with their beheaded head placed between their legs , a ritual that the archeologist behind the discovery believe could indicate they were criminals or pariah . Although they also acknowledge this was a “ normal , albeit marginal , entombment religious rite ” at the fourth dimension .
Alongside the bodies were several artifacts including pins , broach , and Samian pottery .
Over 1,000 coins were establish , plus lead free weight , perhaps indicate that 2,000 old age ago this was a place of craft and commerce . Meanwhile , the uncovering of gaming dice and bells suggest the area was a hub of play and spiritual activities .
“ The excavation is meaning in both enabling a decipherable characterisation of this papistical township but also a subject area of many of its inhabitant , ” Richard Brown , Senior Project Manager for COPA , the company behind the archaeologists act upon for HS2 , said in astatement .
The town in question is in Fleet Marston , near the site where a1,700 - twelvemonth - old rotten eggwas get word in an unrelated digging . It once flank Akeman Street – a major Roman road running from the Roman majuscule of Verulamium ( now St Albans ) to Corinium Dobunnorum ( now Cirencester ) , via Roman Alchester ( near Bicester ) .
Due to its location , the team suggests that the town may have been a staging Emily Post for traveler and soldiers make their way to the garrison at Alchester .
The discovery is far from a one - off . In fact , the situation at Fleet Marston is just one of over 100 that HS2 has expose since 2018 . In 2019 , for good example , the multi - billion dollar project name the remains ofexplorer Matthew Flindersin Euston , London .
“ Along with several young Roman closure internet site strike during the HS2 works [ this young site ] enhances and populate the mathematical function of Roman Buckinghamshire , ” Brown added .
HS2’sfirst phasespans 225 kilometer ( 140 international mile ) between London and Birmingham and is the largest archaeologic shaft in Europe . It maycostan astonishing £ 44.6 billion ( $ 60.3 billion ) and raise a turn ofenvironmental concerns , but the archaeological finding are “ an exciting and welcome by-product ” Neil Redfern , conductor of the Council of Archaeology , told theFinancial Times .
“ The HS2 archeology computer program has enable us to learn more about our plenteous chronicle in Britain . The large papistic cemetery at Fleet Marston will enable us to gain a detailed penetration into the residents of Fleet Marston and the wide papistical Britain landscape painting , ” Helen Wass , Head of Heritage at HS2 Ltd , said .
Over the next few years , the excavation at Fleet Marston will be analyzed , allowing us a rare perceptiveness into Roman Britain and the life of those who populate there .
