Decapitated skeletons, brooches, spoons, coins and tableware have been found in an archaeological dig that uncovered part of a Roman town, the BBC reports. This included the largest Roman cemetery yet to be excavated in Buckinghamshire, with 425 burials. Several lead weights and more than 1,200 coins were discovered, suggesting the site was used for trade and as a staging post for travelers and soldiers passing along the road to the garrison at Alchester. Many domestic finds were made, including gaming dice, bells and jars, while a stone-built corn dryer or malting oven provided evidence of brewing. High quality tableware called Samian pottery and spoons, pins and brooches were also unearthed. About 10% of those buried in the late Roman cemetery were decapitated, which could be a "normal, albeit marginal, burial rite" - or an indication those decapitated were criminals or outcasts.
I would wager it was not a burial rite. Something about having your head by your toes doesn't seem complimentary:
Neat article RC I saw something similar on the History Channel, where a burial site was uncovered, in it where human remains/ all had been decapitated/ heads placed between leg bones. In Peru, a site was unearthed, remains of children who had been sacrificed by Incan priests for the Sun God.
