Sixty Headless Skeletons -- 3,000 Years Old -- Discovered in Pacific Ocean Archipelago Vanuatu

[Adsos Letter]

Source: ScienceDaily

When a team of archaeologists began excavating an old coral reef in Vanuatu in 2008 and 2009, they soon discovered it had served as a cemetery in ancient times. So far, 71 buried individuals have been recorded, giving new information on the islands' inhabitants and their funeral rites.

"This is a groundbreaking discovery, as it is the oldest and biggest skeleton find ever in the Pacific Ocean; bigger cemeteries found further east are much younger," says Mads Ravn, head of research at the University of Stavanger's Museum of Archaeology in Norway.

Relatives did not treat their dead gently. Besides being headless, some of them had had their arms and legs broken, in order to fit into the coral reef cavities. Ravn suggests they may have been left to rot first, and buried later as skeletons.

The local museum's staff of the Vanuatu Culture Centre, a range of researchers, lead by Stuart Bedford and Matthew Spriggs from the Australian National University (ANU), forms an international and cross-disciplinary team, working to gather information about the Pacific islands' inhabitants. Mads Ravn's expertise in migration and colonising over great distances, as well as in digital excavation documentation and recording, makes him an important contributor to this cooperative effort.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091215164909.htm

[pansypoo53219]

1. may have kept the heads at home.

sublimation.

cripes. one high school paper on cannibalism in HS and i still remember so much.

[chollybocker]

2. "Sixty Headless Skeletons"

First, I thought this was yet another 'Ineffective Dems Control Congress' thread.

But this is actually interesting. Thx! :)

[madokie]

10. LOL

[Odin2005]

11. ROFLMAO!!!

[aikoaiko]

3. 1st generation vampires who were vanquished.

no doubt.

[Hekate]

4. Fascinating. Wonder what else they'll find? nt

[elias7]

5. Ah, the lost tribe of Ann Encephaly

[dugaresa]

7. good one

[asdjrocky]

6. Vanuatu is an amazing place with amazing people.

If you ever get a chance read- Getting Stoned with Savages - J. Maarten Troost. It will totally make you want to go to Vanuatu and if you're anything like me, it will make you want to try kava.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

8. the fact that the skeletons lacked head suggests...

they were Republicans!

[Tailormyst]

9. I had no idea Bones could last for 3000 years under the ocean.

[cbdo2007]

12. Hey....Survivor did a season in Vanuatu. You don't think this is a CBS coverup do you???

Think about it, with recent troubles with reality shows and crimes, maybe these were contestants who died during one of the challenges and CBS hid them somewhere and used makeup to make them look 3,000 years old. Obviously the heads were removed so they couldn't be identified.

Keep us posted please....