The Iron Age Mysterious Framework Found In France

A mysterious skeleton was found in France (doc. INRAP).

JAKARTA - Rare findings of the mysterious skeleton of the Iron Age were found in a strange sitting position and facing the same direction at ancient burial sites.

A total of 13 circular graves have been found by archaeologists working in Dijon, France.

Scientists discovered a burial site dating back to the second Iron Age while digging the Cordeliers monasteries garden bordering the Rude de Tivoli.

Inside the 13 circular graves, archaeologists found a skeleton that was all in a sitting position facing the west.

Such funeral sites are rare because there are only eight other locations known in France, according to the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP), the team behind the discovery.

Only three other funeral sites have been found in Switzerland.

A total of 13 circular holes with a diameter of about one meter were given the same distance so that they formed a 25-meter-long route from south to north.

Each body is placed carefully sitting with its back facing the east wall of the hole, a common burial method between 450 and 25 BC.

All skeletons are buried in exactly the same way their arms are placed on their bodies and hands near their pelvis or thighbones.

"Their legs are very twisted, often asymmetric," read INRAP's statement.

In addition, there were no other personal or symbolic effects on the corpse.

Despite experiencing erosion for centuries, the body remained intact and left many things to research and study by the researchers.

There are still questions about why the 13 people were buried this way, but other funeral sites found suggest they could be linked to their status while they were still alive.

It has been suggested that the body may be politically or religiously important.

"Only a dozen archaeological sites produce about fifty sitting bodies whose graves are placed near royal residences or even holy places or places of worship, away from the cemetery."

"Although these sites are remote, concordance is repeated, this tomb structure is installed on the edge of the settlement, the individual concerned is an adult whose gender, if determined, is male."

"In addition, the uniformity of the position (the same orientation, careful structuring of corpses) reminds the figure of a rock or metal squatting or even sitting each other from the end of La Tene and the High Empire."

"This burial evokes practices that may be aimed at certain subjects," said INRAP's statement again.

While this strange burial plot was found in the oldest part of the Cordeliers monasteries park, another unusual discovery occurred elsewhere on the site.

Archaeologists also found a cemetery dating back to the 1st century AD containing the bodies of at least 22 children.

The complete number of bodies is unknown because agricultural work has damaged several graves.

However, from the remains left intact, the children are believed to have died before the age of one.

Each of them was buried in a supine or oblique position, which was a common thing at the time. Children were buried with various artifacts including stone sheaths, nails, coins, and ceramics.

Researchers also found the remains of a rotting wooden coffin.

"The absence of parents seems to suggest that this is a place dedicated to the funeral of very young children," INRAP wrote.

However, one day the place was used for agriculture and then for animal slaughter.

The team found ancient planting holes near the tomb and cow's skull from the 16th or 17th century AD.

Meanwhile, a number of British gold coins from the Bible era have been found in the Netherlands and are believed to be war looters of the Roman conquest.