30 November 2023 , 11:45
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Archaeologists have discovered a hollowed out skull among the remains of a man and a woman buried in Germany.
During their ongoing excavations near a 1,000-year-old former royal palace built by Roman Emperor Otto the Great in Hefta, Saxony-Anhalt, archaeologists unearthed two skeletons who were "possibly a married couple" according to Oliver Dietrich, an archaeologist with the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin.
German news outlet Bild reported that the woman was slightly shorter than the man at 5ft 1in.
Researchers were surprised to realise that her skeleton was missing facial bones. Further analysis, however, revealed that her skull had not been scooped out but was instead damaged post-mortem due to her grave being shallowly dug directly beneath the soil layer.
Archaeologists have unearthed an apparent noblewoman who was buried next to her husband some 1,000 years ago, with the top of her skull missing (Jan Woitas/dpa)Speaking to Live Science, Felix Biermann, an archaeology professor at the University of Szczecin in Poland, explained:
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"The woman's skill was damaged by subsequent disturbances to the grave, for example by [a] plow or perhaps also by small animals that have built their burrows in the grave. So, there is nothing spectacular about it".
The man may have been a noble figure at the time of his passing, as indicated by his being buried with an assortment of grave goods including a knife, belt set, and the iron tip of a staff. "We conclude that this man lived in the 9th century A.D and was an official in the Frankish castle or hillfort that existed there at the time," Biermann commented. "As he had no weapons with him, he was probably more official than a warrior."
The woman's grave, meanwhile, lacked such items.
"It is not easy to say why the woman had no grave goods," Biermann said. "It is possible that her grave was later robbed".
"I think it is more likely that she or the people who buried her were already more Christian than the man. The two of them lived at a time when Christianity was slowly gaining acceptance, and in this case the decision not to provide burial objects could express a turn toward Christianity, while the provision of burial objects could express a more traditional attitude," he added.
Analysis to determine the identities of the pair and how they may have died is ongoing.