Radiocarbon dating and microtomography of the fossil remains of people and objects with which they were buried, revealed somewhat frightening details of life in the Bronze Age.
Scientists at the University of Bristol have carried out radiocarbon dating of the remains of people who died in the Bronze Age, and found that not all bones in the graves were of the same age. It turned out that about 4500 years ago, together with the deceased, they buried the remains of those who had passed away several generations earlier. This means that the bones of deceased people were kept as relics and passed on to descendants. The researchers talked about the slightly creepy way of dealing with the "great-grandmother's shin" in the work "Radiocarbon and histo-taphonomic evidence for the curation and excarnation of human remains in Bronze Age Britain", which will soon be published in the journal Antiquity.
Burial of a woman along with the bones of several people who died 60-170 years earlier than her
Scientists believe that families during the Bronze Age kept the bones of relatives, friends, enemies and other significant people. The remains were used as memorable relics, grave goods, household items and even material for creativity. The most unusual use of the bones of the deceased was recorded in the southwest of England in Wiltshire. Not far from Stonehenge, a burial was found, where a musical instrument made of human bones was found next to stone and bronze axes. Scientists believe that the people of the Bronze Age did not experience the horror or disgust for human remains that we experience today.
The next stage of the study, microtomography, only confirms this assumption. The researchers evaluated the microscopic changes in the bone caused by bacteria to get an idea of how the bodies were buried. It turned out that some of the corpses were burned, and then the skeleton was disassembled into components. Other bones were mined after burial. Some of the remains were more fortunate, they were degreased and left to decompose quietly in the ground. In any case, there was no single ritual or protocol for handling bodies in the Bronze Age.