Mystery as DOZENS of skeletons in stone coffins found buried under Welsh college
HUMAN remains buried inside stone coffins have been dug up underneath a college in North Wales. Skeletons and other artefacts at the site could date back as far as 1,800 years – and may be linked to the Roman occupation of Britain. Archaeologists at the site say they’ve uncovered “dozens” of cist-style graves and skeletons. […]
HUMAN remains buried inside stone coffins have been dug up underneath a college in North Wales.
Skeletons and other artefacts at the site could date back as far as 1,800 years – and may be linked to the Roman occupation of Britain.
Archaeologists at the site say they’ve uncovered “dozens” of cist-style graves and skeletons.
Cists are small stone-built coffins or underground rooms where dead bodies are held – and were commonly used for Bronze Age burials around 4,000 years ago.
But experts believe that the site was used as a cemetery from around the time of the Roman departure from Wales.
That dates the graves as far back as 1,600 years, as revealed by the North Wales Chronicle.
The dig took place at Llangefni College’s Coleg Menai campus in North Wales.
And the spooky findings – including skeletons and graves – are in “astonishingly good preservation”.
Archaeologists also confirmed that the bodies came from far afield, rather than locally.
“Results so far are for just one half of the site, and that the true picture will not be gained until both Archaeology Wales and Brython Archaeology combine the two sides of the excavation into a single publication,” said Dr Irene Garcia Rovira, of Archaeology Wales.
“From our half of the site, it is quite interesting that the earliest dates show that the first use of the cemetery go almost as far back as the Roman departure of Wales.
“Isotope analyses show that some individuals are not from Anglesey, and include two examples from Scandinavia and two from Iberia.”
The Romans in Britain
Here's everything you need to know...
The Roman Empire conquered vast swathes of Europe, West Asia and North Africa.
A Roman force of 40,000 led by Aulus Plautius landed in Kent and took the south east in 43 AD.
Key tribal leaders surrendered, and within three years Britain was declared part of the Roman Empire.
Londinium (London) was founded in 47 AD and became the country’s capital. Networks of roads were built across the country.
Over time, the Britons began to adopt Roman customs, such as towns, animals, a new religion and ways of reading and counting. The Romans even gave us the word “Britain”.
The Romans largely remained in the south of Britain, famously never managing to take Scotland from the country’s violent Barbarian forces.
By 410 AD, the Empire was falling apart, and Roman rule ended in Britain when soldiers were recalled to Rome to protect other parts of it.
The site was found during construction work on the college campus, as part of a £20million investment.
It was only by accident that the cemetery was first discovered in 2016, when Anglesey County Council and the Welsh Government began construction of a road connecting the campus to the A55 road.
During an initial dig, archaeologists unearthed the remains of 54 people – suggesting Early Medieval use of the cemetery.
But later excavations found a evidence of a further 32 bodies, indicating much older usage of the area as a burial site.
Archaeologists even uncovered a 2nd Century Roman coin, as well as decorative bronze Celtic items.
“This has been an exciting discovery suggesting some kind of settlement has existed at Llangefni for almost the last 2,000 years,” said Dafydd Evans, the chief of college conglomerate Grwp Landrillo-Menai.
Once excavations are complete, the finds will be available for viewing at the Llangefni Oriel Ynys Môn gallery and museum.
UK mysteries 'solved' by archaeology
Here are some of the most exciting discoveries that have happened in Britain...
- Richard III final resting place: The skeleton of King Richard III was discovered by archaeologists in a supermarket carpark in Leicester in 2013
- How Stonehenge was built: The huge monoliths that make up Stonehenge may have been dragged there using greasy sledges lubricated with pig fat, according to new research from Newcastle University
- Why there were 39 decapited skulls at the London Wall: Skulls discovered within the boundaries of ancient London back in 1988 are now believed to have belonged to gladiators who were beheaded for amusement purposes thanks to a recent reassessment of the remains
- Queen Emma’s remains: The lost bones belonging to an 11th-century English queen called Queen Emma are believed to have been found in a chest in Winchester Cathedral
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In related news, archaeologists recently uncovered a strange burial pit with “child, donkey, goat, cat and bird” skeletons stacked on top of each other.
The battered skeleton of a Pictish Scot ‘brutally murdered’ 1400 years ago may have been a royal.
And Europe’s oldest human footprints have been found on a Norfolk beach – and may belong to a mystery 950,000-year-old ancestor.
Are you shocked by this spooky discovery? Let us know in the comments!
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