In the suburbs of Cambridge, not far from London, archaeologists have discovered an intriguing mass grave. It dates from the Viking era, at the time of their violent wars against the Saxons. One of the things that has attracted the most attention from researchers is the skeleton of a man abnormally large for the time, who would have undergone brain surgery.
The team responsible for this discovery last summer were carrying out practice digs with students in Wandlebury Country Park. The area is known for its fort, used since the 2nd century. It is precisely in front of this vestige that they uncovered this tomb, which is particularly rich in lessons, explains an article from Live Science.
Four complete bodies were found, as well as several skulls and a pile of legs, all belonging to young men aged between 17 and 24. The number of limbs found suggests that they were tied up and suffered extreme violence, analyzes Oscar Aldred, archaeologist at the University of Cambridge. “It may be that some disarticulated limbs were displayed as trophies and then collected and buried with those executed or otherwise slaughtered, he adds. These limbs may have been in an advanced state of decomposition and were literally falling apart when they were thrown into the pit.”
At this time, the whole area around Cambridge was known to constitute a “border” between Viking and Saxon territories, and therefore a place of constant tension. The bones having been dated to this period, the main hypothesis makes these bodies protagonists of this conflict. The absence of injuries indicates that they were probably not killed in battle, although they suffered violent physical punishment.
“It was an overwhelming experience to discover increasingly disjointed bones and to realize the extent of the suffering endured”testifies Grace Grandfield, a student present during the excavations.
A giant with a hole in his head
A particular corpse stands out from the crowd. The man measured 1.95 m while the average height of a man at the time was around 1.68 m. He also had a 3 cm hole in his skull, a sign of possible surgery. “It is possible that the person had a tumor that affected their pituitary gland and caused an excess of growth hormones”explains Trish Biers, osteologist at the University of Cambridge.
This condition has a name, pituitary gigantism, a disorder corresponding to an excess of growth hormone during adolescence, producing an individual much larger and more massive than average. This condition is often caused by a benign tumor called an adenoma. His brain would have ended up being cramped in his cranium and the man would have been operated on.
“Such a brain injury would have led to an increase in intracranial pressure, causing headaches”specifies Biers. To relieve him, we could have made a hole in the skull, a trepanation “common in cases of head trauma, even today”.
The University of Cambridge’s archeology department has been conducting its training excavations at Wandlebury for years, the only other human remains unearthed having been in 1975. Analyzes will be carried out on the ten skeletons, the study of their DNA could reveal a lot about the health and origins of these individuals.
