Evidence suggests the men were running away from their attackersCeri Falys will be talking to Dr Alice Roberts about the bones in a new series of BBC Two's Digging For Britain, to be aired in September
Posted on 08/14/2011 1:57:36 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Evidence of a brutal massacre of Vikings in Oxford 1100 years ago has been uncovered by archaeologists.
At least 35 skeletons, all males aged 16 to 25 were discovered in 2008 at St John's College, Oxford...
The bodies had not received any type of formal burial and they had been dumped in a mass grave on the site of a 4,000-year-old Neolithic henge monument...
It is possible that the Oxford skeletons were victims of an event called the St Brice's Day Massacre, recorded in a number of historical sources.
In AD1002, the Saxon king Ethelred the Unready recorded in a charter that he ordered "a most just extermination" of all the Danes in England.
He made the decision after he was told of a Danish plot to assassinate him.
The charter also recorded how on that day, the Danes in Oxford fled to St Fridewides church expecting to find refuge, but instead were pursued by the townspeople, who then set the church on fire.
Radiocarbon dating of the bones indicated that the bodies were dumped between AD960 and AD1020...
Isotope analysis of the bones has shown that the men were eating a diet that was high in seafood...
A similar mass grave was found last year by Oxford Archaeology during work to build the Weymouth relief road.
It was radiocarbon dated to a similar period and again containing only young male victims, indicating that Anglo Saxon violence towards Vikings at the time may have been nationwide.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Evidence suggests the men were running away from their attackersCeri Falys will be talking to Dr Alice Roberts about the bones in a new series of BBC Two's Digging For Britain, to be aired in September
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Such savage behavior - sure am glad we don’t do that sort of thing anymore ...
Bloody Vikings...
We’re kind of used to seeing the Vikings get annihilated.
“Ethelred the Unready”????
What a moniker to be stuck with!
Lately, that’s true. :’) I read of some mystification as to the efficacy of the Vikings’ draft picks as well.
well, unraed in ye olde englishe is ‘ill-advised’.
It’s a commonplace, but it’s a modern misunderstanding I believe — it actually was “Ethelred the Unraed”, meaning “counsel-less”, he made a lot of decisions without either weighing them for very long or consulting with any of his advisors. Pay was probably the same.
The word “Ready” as it was used then meant counselled or advised. Ethelred’s monicker translated today would mean “evil counsel”, “bad plan” or “folly”. It was not something one would say to the King’s face
so now it’s 0bama the Unraed
Thanks!
:’)
Thanks for the education guys! But,,,, still,,,,,,,,
Reparations for the Vikings, Saxons must pay!!
Were any identified as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
In that case, the whole massacre was probably antisemitism.
40 acres and a mule for every decedent.
40 acres and a mule for every decedent.
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