--- title: Creepy Archaeological Discoveries description: "Archaeology: It's the study of who we were and who we may become. As noble as that sounds, sometimes the work of digging up the past comes with chilling consequences. Recent discoveries in the field span from sacrificial horrors beyond comprehension to abandoned artifacts, literally frozen in time. Here's five recent discoveries that remind us that the human story isn't always pretty, but it sure as hell is interesting.\n\n## Human Spine Posts\n\nIn 2022, archaeologists working in the Chincha Valley, along the southern coast of Peru, discovered a macabre collection of 192 partially-reconstructed human spines on sticks. The artifacts were loose vertebrae knuckles, strung through reeds like beads on a necklace. Each post contained the spinal column of a single individual—but not stacked anatomically correct. More of a mismatched bone kabob.\n\nThe spines were from members of the Chinchorro culture, which existed from 1000 to 1400 CE. The Chinchorro thrived for centuries as their own kingdom before eventually being integrated into the Incan civilization. In their funerary tradition, bodies were placed within towering tombs called \"chullpas\" (a type of ancient, above-ground, mausoleum). Bodies from this period were traditionally laid in the fetal position and intact. But these recently-discovered remains were intentionally disturbed, then reassembled, as if an attempt was made to put skeletons back together in a hurry.\n\nTurns out, theirs was not a lucky time to be a native. The Chinchorro suffered a catastrophic depopulation thanks to European colonization. The explorers from the east introduced foreign viruses, epidemics, all in which coincided with a horrific famine. The once thriving society of 30,000 households in 1533 dwindled to under a 1000 by 1583, nearly obliterating their people within fifty years. The spinal reeds were radiocarbon dated to this period of great loss, suggesting they were victims of bad timing, and possibly, grave robbing…\n\nThe most logical theory for the spine posts is based on tragedy. Burial of loved ones was highly ritualized by this culture, with valuable belongings laid beside those that passed, including gold and silver. When colonial explorers realized every Chincha graveyard was a treasure hunt, they dug up the graves and stole whatever valuables they could find, not caring how much they disturbed the bodies in the process.\n\nArchaeologists' best theory is that the reed-strung spinal columns are the attempts of remaining survivors to put their loved ones' skeletons back together so they can rest in peace.\n\n## Decapitated Romans in Britain\n\nThis past January, in preparation for the construction of a new housing development, workers in Wintringham, England came across the ruins of an ancient settlement. The site had artifacts spanning nearly a thousand years, from the late Iron Age through the Roman occupation (500 BCE - 400 CE). The excavation consisted of 40 houses, roads, farms, kilns, and a grain mill. They also discovered a disturbing trend: 17 decapitated bodies, 11 of which had their heads placed at their feet for burial.\n\nSome of the remains had clay pots resting where their head should be, all had their skulls placed between their knees or feet. These particular individuals were dated back to the late 3rd century, which was during the time of Roman rule. These deviant burials were common at the time and researchers are trying to figure out why.\n\nThere are several theories. One is that these were criminals buried in their own mass grave separate from the rest of the community. This was a time of upheaval in Britain, where the power was transitioning from local governments to Roman authority. Some experts believe these bodies were victims of capital punishment, as decapitation was one of the four approved methods sanctioned by Rome for executions. The placement of their heads at their feet might possibly be an act of public shaming for their crimes.\n\nOthers think the heads being placed near the feet has nothing to do with criminal activity, and is simply the common method of burial at the time. These are not the only headless bodies found in British Roman settlements. Out of 400 remains from the same period found in Buckinghamshire, dozens had the tell-tale burial of heads placed near their owner's feet. The same for 17 bodies found in Somersham.\n\nWhile experts continue to research, they note that perhaps removing the head after a natural death was a practice based on superstition or a local custom. Even if they feared the deceased may rise from the dead, both the Anglo and Roman traditions felt the body should be buried whole. This may explain why the skulls are included with the remains, but how and why they were removed in the first place remains a mystery.\n\n## Hidden Sarcophagi Under Notre Dame Cathedral\n\nIn 2022 two lead sarcophagi were discovered below the floor of the Notre Dame Cathedral. They were found during renovation work, along with a cache of various statues, sculptures, and fragments from the 13th-century. One casket contained a historic member of the church. The other; a mystery corpse without teeth and an oddly-deformed skull.\n\nBack in 2019 there was a fire that damaged vast sections of the cathedral, and during repairs to the floor workers discovered the statues just 20 cm (8 inches) under the damaged floor. They kept working their way down, finding more and more treasures, until a meter under the floor of Notre Dame they discovered the lead coffins. One of the caskets was well made and marked with a brass plaque. The other was in a much older, comparatively poorly-crafted, from centuries earlier.\n\nThe plaque sarcophagus contained the remains of Antoine de la Porte, a canon of the church, which was a title given to both priests and secular members of the congregation for their contributions to the Cathedral. Porte made a substantial donation in the 16th century to renovate the choir section of the church. He also commissioned several paintings still hanging in the Louvre.\n\nHis plaque reads:\n\n> \"THIS IS THE BODY OF MESSIRE ANTOINE OF THE CANON PORTE OF THE CHURCH [word erased] DEATH DECEMBER 24, 1710 IN HIS 83RD YEAR. REQUIESCAT IN PEACE.\"\n\nThe second lead casket left archeologists with more questions than answers. What is known about the man is he passed in his thirties and was missing his teeth, which possibly led to his early demise. He also had an elongated skull. Experts theorize the deformity was with him his entire life, probably from the practice of aristocrats' infants wearing tight decorative headbands, which impeded normal skull growth.\n\nWhat they do know about the nameless man is his pelvic bones show signs of a man who spent a lot of time in the saddle, and so he was named \"Le Cavalier\" and assumed a knight, to have been laid to rest in a place of such honor directly below the Cathedral. Oddly, there were the remnants of a flower crown around his head. Not a common burial practice for the middle ages.\n\nThe teams involved wanted to be clear that while the bodies are a part of Paris's History, they were not to be treated as \"archaeological objects\" and would be handled with respect while research continues. Once the study of the remains is complete, the Paris Culture Ministry will decide what will happen to the bodies.\n\n## World's Largest Child Sacrifice\n\nIn 2011 excavations began near the ruins of a 3,500-year-old temple, near the city of Trujillo, Peru. Within a few weeks of the starting the dig the graves of 42 children and 76 llamas were unearthed. And that was just the beginning.\n\nThe teams involved at the site, which they nicknamed \"Las Llamas,\" were both excited and horrified as the work continued and mutilated young bodies were being uncovered by the dozens. Up until this point, the largest child sacrifice ever documented was 42 bodies in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, Mexico. Las Llamas's findings were on track to obliterate those numbers.\n\nA few years into the dig, the number of sacrificial victims uncovered escalated to over 140 children between the ages of 5-14, with the majority being between 8-12 years old. Making it the largest child sacrifice discovered to date.\n\nThe archaeologists on site are certain their end was sacrificial. The uncovered bodies shared the tell-tale signs of systematic ritualized murder, including rib cages split open to make it easier to remove their hearts and red cinnabar pigment across their skulls.\n\nAlongside the bodies of the children were 200 slaughtered llamas, also found with their sternums split open. Both the children and livestock had remnants of woven ropes and fabrics with them, which aided in dating the ritual between 1400 and 1450 CE.\n\nThe buried children were all positioned facing west, towards the sea and sunset over the pacific ocean. The 200 llamas sacrificed beside them; were also young, under the age of 18 months and all positioned facing east towards the Andes, their mountain home.\n\nThese children were killed by members of the Chimu Culture. Possibly as a last-ditch effort to appease the gods after a recent natural disaster, as strong evidence of heavy rainfall and flooding in the period may have driven the inspiration. Another possibility for the sacrifice was favor in war, as during this time the Chimu were being brought down by the Inca Empire. The Chimu spanned most of the Pacific coast, and thrived there until they collapsed a few decades after this bloodbath, around 1475 CE.\n\nThe remains of three adults were also found, a man and two women. They had all died from blunt-force trauma to their heads and had not been buried with any personal effects. The best guess of researchers is they played a part in the ritual killings, possibly the team that committed all of them, and were killed shortly after the deed was done.\n\n## Lost Ship Frozen in Time\n\nIn March of 2022 history was made at the discovery of Sir Ernest Shackleton's famous ship, The Endurance, which originally sank over a hundred years ago off the coast of Antarctica. She was found resting over 3000 meters (nearly 10,000 feet) under the surface, sitting upright and proud on the seafloor, looking much the same as the day she sank.\n\nWhen Shackleton attempted the historic cross-Antarctic expedition in 1915, he and his crew of 27 men sailed on The Endurance, a three-masted wooden vessel built in Norway. The plan was for the ship to drop off the crew and their supplies on one side of the continent, while another ship, 600 miles across the frozen landmass was waiting to send the brave adventurers home. But things didn't go as planned and the Endurance became trapped in sea ice before even reaching Antarctica. Despite months of the crew picking away at the ice in an attempt to free her, the Endurance eventually took on water and sank.\n\nFortunately, the ship's captain kept a disciplined log, and charted the coordinates of the boat's location upon sinking. That century-old log book is what helped the team of scientists endeavoring to locate the wreck. The crew that found the Endurance was manned by The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, and the discovery expedition was privately-funded by an anonymous donor to locate, film, and scan the wreck.\n\nIt took the crew two weeks of searching, thanks to the use of deep-sea probes loaded with surveillance gear, sonar, and high definition cameras— but what they discovered was a time capsule. The ship remained so well preserved because water pressure at that depth is too intense to allow the sea to freeze, and too cold for the types of bacteria that eat away at wood - she rests very much like the day she sank, her only crew now coral and sea anemones, waving in the current.\n\nMensun Bound, Director of Exploration on the expedition, said:\n\n> \"We are overwhelmed by our good fortune in having located and captured images of Endurance. This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen. It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation. You can even see 'Endurance' arced across the stern, directly below the taffrail. This is a milestone in polar history. However, it is not all about the past; we are bringing the story of Shackleton and Endurance to new audiences, and to the next generation, who will be entrusted with the essential safeguarding of our polar regions and our planet.\"\n\nThe ship will remain where she rests, which is protected as a historic site and will remain undisturbed for the time being.\n\n## Key Takeaways\n\n- Archaeologists discovered 192 reconstructed human spines in Peru, likely disturbed by grave robbers.\n- Decapitated Roman remains found in England suggest ritualistic burials or capital punishment.\n- Two lead sarcophagi, including one with a deformed skull, were found under Notre Dame Cathedral.\n- Over 140 children and 200 llamas were sacrificed in Peru, possibly to appease gods or gain favor in war.\n- Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship, The Endurance, was found intact and well-preserved off Antarctica's coast.\n\n## Frequently Asked Questions\n\n### What were the spine posts found in Peru?\n\nThe spine posts found in Peru were a collection of 192 partially-reconstructed human spines on sticks, strung through reeds like beads on a necklace. Each post contained the spinal column of a single individual, but the vertebrae were not stacked anatomically correct.\n\n### What culture did the spine posts belong to?\n\nThe spine posts belonged to the Chinchorro culture, which existed from 1000 to 1400 CE.\n\n### Why were the spines reassembled?\n\nThe spines were reassembled by the remaining survivors of the Chinchorro culture, possibly as an attempt to put their loved ones' skeletons back together after grave robbing by colonial explorers.\n\n### What was the significance of the decapitated Romans found in Britain?\n\nThe decapitated Romans found in Britain, with their heads placed at their feet, are believed to be either criminals buried in a mass grave or victims of capital punishment during the time of Roman rule. Alternatively, it could have been a common burial practice based on superstition or local custom.\n\n### What was found beneath Notre Dame Cathedral?\n\nTwo lead sarcophagi were discovered beneath Notre Dame Cathedral. One contained the remains of Antoine de la Porte, a canon of the church, and the other contained a mystery corpse with an oddly-deformed skull and missing teeth.\n\n### What is known about the man in the second sarcophagus?\n\nThe man in the second sarcophagus passed away in his thirties, was missing his teeth, and had an elongated skull, possibly due to the practice of aristocrats' infants wearing tight decorative headbands. His pelvic bones suggest he spent a lot of time in the saddle, earning him the nickname 'Le Cavalier.'\n\n### What was the largest child sacrifice discovered?\n\nThe largest child sacrifice discovered involved over 140 children between the ages of 5-14, with the majority being between 8-12 years old. The sacrifice also included 200 slaughtered llamas and was conducted by the Chimu Culture.\n\n### What was the significance of the child sacrifice in Peru?\n\nThe child sacrifice in Peru is believed to have been a last-ditch effort to appease the gods after a recent natural disaster or to gain favor in war, as the Chimu were being brought down by the Inca Empire during that time.\n\n### What was discovered in Antarctica in 2022?\n\nIn 2022, Sir Ernest Shackleton's famous ship, The Endurance, was discovered resting over 3000 meters under the surface of the sea off the coast of Antarctica. The ship was found upright and well-preserved, looking much the same as the day it sank.\n\n### Why was The Endurance so well-preserved?\n\nThe Endurance was so well-preserved because the water pressure at that depth is too intense to allow the sea to freeze, and too cold for the types of bacteria that eat away at wood.\n\n## Sources\n\n- [Original Side Projects video: Creepy Archaeological Discoveries](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbrKdzjdBws)\n- [Hero image source](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Cytiau_Celtaidd_-_Celtic_Iron_Age_Huts_at_Mynydd_Twr%2C_Caergybi_%28Holyhead%29%2C_Wales_2021_23.jpg) by Monsyn / openverse, by-sa.\n\n## Related Coverage" url: https://sideprojects.pub/article/creepy-archaeological-discoveries.md canonical: https://sideprojects.pub/article/creepy-archaeological-discoveries datePublished: 2021-10-26 dateModified: 2026-07-28 author: - name: Simon Whistler url: https://sideprojects.pub/author/simon-whistler publisher: Side Projects image: "https://media.sideprojects.pub/cdn-cgi/image/width=1600,height=900,fit=cover,quality=80,format=auto/articles/ZbrKdzjdBws/hero.jpg" type: NewsArticle contentHash: 39b9eaf8d4e82082666117d6d14fb88ce318dff7111f9c62688837203f181c66 tokens: 4056 summaryUrl: https://sideprojects.pub/article/creepy-archaeological-discoveries.md.summary.md --- Archaeology: It's the study of who we were and who we may become. As noble as that sounds, sometimes the work of digging up the past comes with chilling consequences. Recent discoveries in the field span from sacrificial horrors beyond comprehension to abandoned artifacts, literally frozen in time. Here's five recent discoveries that remind us that the human story isn't always pretty, but it sure as hell is interesting. ## Human Spine Posts In 2022, archaeologists working in the Chincha Valley, along the southern coast of Peru, discovered a macabre collection of 192 partially-reconstructed human spines on sticks. The artifacts were loose vertebrae knuckles, strung through reeds like beads on a necklace. Each post contained the spinal column of a single individual—but not stacked anatomically correct. More of a mismatched bone kabob. The spines were from members of the Chinchorro culture, which existed from 1000 to 1400 CE. The Chinchorro thrived for centuries as their own kingdom before eventually being integrated into the Incan civilization. In their funerary tradition, bodies were placed within towering tombs called "chullpas" (a type of ancient, above-ground, mausoleum). Bodies from this period were traditionally laid in the fetal position and intact. But these recently-discovered remains were intentionally disturbed, then reassembled, as if an attempt was made to put skeletons back together in a hurry. Turns out, theirs was not a lucky time to be a native. The Chinchorro suffered a catastrophic depopulation thanks to European colonization. The explorers from the east introduced foreign viruses, epidemics, all in which coincided with a horrific famine. The once thriving society of 30,000 households in 1533 dwindled to under a 1000 by 1583, nearly obliterating their people within fifty years. The spinal reeds were radiocarbon dated to this period of great loss, suggesting they were victims of bad timing, and possibly, grave robbing… The most logical theory for the spine posts is based on tragedy. Burial of loved ones was highly ritualized by this culture, with valuable belongings laid beside those that passed, including gold and silver. When colonial explorers realized every Chincha graveyard was a treasure hunt, they dug up the graves and stole whatever valuables they could find, not caring how much they disturbed the bodies in the process. Archaeologists' best theory is that the reed-strung spinal columns are the attempts of remaining survivors to put their loved ones' skeletons back together so they can rest in peace. ## Decapitated Romans in Britain This past January, in preparation for the construction of a new housing development, workers in Wintringham, England came across the ruins of an ancient settlement. The site had artifacts spanning nearly a thousand years, from the late Iron Age through the Roman occupation (500 BCE - 400 CE). The excavation consisted of 40 houses, roads, farms, kilns, and a grain mill. They also discovered a disturbing trend: 17 decapitated bodies, 11 of which had their heads placed at their feet for burial. Some of the remains had clay pots resting where their head should be, all had their skulls placed between their knees or feet. These particular individuals were dated back to the late 3rd century, which was during the time of Roman rule. These deviant burials were common at the time and researchers are trying to figure out why. There are several theories. One is that these were criminals buried in their own mass grave separate from the rest of the community. This was a time of upheaval in Britain, where the power was transitioning from local governments to Roman authority. Some experts believe these bodies were victims of capital punishment, as decapitation was one of the four approved methods sanctioned by Rome for executions. The placement of their heads at their feet might possibly be an act of public shaming for their crimes. Others think the heads being placed near the feet has nothing to do with criminal activity, and is simply the common method of burial at the time. These are not the only headless bodies found in British Roman settlements. Out of 400 remains from the same period found in Buckinghamshire, dozens had the tell-tale burial of heads placed near their owner's feet. The same for 17 bodies found in Somersham. While experts continue to research, they note that perhaps removing the head after a natural death was a practice based on superstition or a local custom. Even if they feared the deceased may rise from the dead, both the Anglo and Roman traditions felt the body should be buried whole. This may explain why the skulls are included with the remains, but how and why they were removed in the first place remains a mystery. ## Hidden Sarcophagi Under Notre Dame Cathedral In 2022 two lead sarcophagi were discovered below the floor of the Notre Dame Cathedral. They were found during renovation work, along with a cache of various statues, sculptures, and fragments from the 13th-century. One casket contained a historic member of the church. The other; a mystery corpse without teeth and an oddly-deformed skull. Back in 2019 there was a fire that damaged vast sections of the cathedral, and during repairs to the floor workers discovered the statues just 20 cm (8 inches) under the damaged floor. They kept working their way down, finding more and more treasures, until a meter under the floor of Notre Dame they discovered the lead coffins. One of the caskets was well made and marked with a brass plaque. The other was in a much older, comparatively poorly-crafted, from centuries earlier. The plaque sarcophagus contained the remains of Antoine de la Porte, a canon of the church, which was a title given to both priests and secular members of the congregation for their contributions to the Cathedral. Porte made a substantial donation in the 16th century to renovate the choir section of the church. He also commissioned several paintings still hanging in the Louvre. His plaque reads: > "THIS IS THE BODY OF MESSIRE ANTOINE OF THE CANON PORTE OF THE CHURCH [word erased] DEATH DECEMBER 24, 1710 IN HIS 83RD YEAR. REQUIESCAT IN PEACE." The second lead casket left archeologists with more questions than answers. What is known about the man is he passed in his thirties and was missing his teeth, which possibly led to his early demise. He also had an elongated skull. Experts theorize the deformity was with him his entire life, probably from the practice of aristocrats' infants wearing tight decorative headbands, which impeded normal skull growth. What they do know about the nameless man is his pelvic bones show signs of a man who spent a lot of time in the saddle, and so he was named "Le Cavalier" and assumed a knight, to have been laid to rest in a place of such honor directly below the Cathedral. Oddly, there were the remnants of a flower crown around his head. Not a common burial practice for the middle ages. The teams involved wanted to be clear that while the bodies are a part of Paris's History, they were not to be treated as "archaeological objects" and would be handled with respect while research continues. Once the study of the remains is complete, the Paris Culture Ministry will decide what will happen to the bodies. ## World's Largest Child Sacrifice In 2011 excavations began near the ruins of a 3,500-year-old temple, near the city of Trujillo, Peru. Within a few weeks of the starting the dig the graves of 42 children and 76 llamas were unearthed. And that was just the beginning. The teams involved at the site, which they nicknamed "Las Llamas," were both excited and horrified as the work continued and mutilated young bodies were being uncovered by the dozens. Up until this point, the largest child sacrifice ever documented was 42 bodies in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, Mexico. Las Llamas's findings were on track to obliterate those numbers. A few years into the dig, the number of sacrificial victims uncovered escalated to over 140 children between the ages of 5-14, with the majority being between 8-12 years old. Making it the largest child sacrifice discovered to date. The archaeologists on site are certain their end was sacrificial. The uncovered bodies shared the tell-tale signs of systematic ritualized murder, including rib cages split open to make it easier to remove their hearts and red cinnabar pigment across their skulls. Alongside the bodies of the children were 200 slaughtered llamas, also found with their sternums split open. Both the children and livestock had remnants of woven ropes and fabrics with them, which aided in dating the ritual between 1400 and 1450 CE. The buried children were all positioned facing west, towards the sea and sunset over the pacific ocean. The 200 llamas sacrificed beside them; were also young, under the age of 18 months and all positioned facing east towards the Andes, their mountain home. These children were killed by members of the Chimu Culture. Possibly as a last-ditch effort to appease the gods after a recent natural disaster, as strong evidence of heavy rainfall and flooding in the period may have driven the inspiration. Another possibility for the sacrifice was favor in war, as during this time the Chimu were being brought down by the Inca Empire. The Chimu spanned most of the Pacific coast, and thrived there until they collapsed a few decades after this bloodbath, around 1475 CE. The remains of three adults were also found, a man and two women. They had all died from blunt-force trauma to their heads and had not been buried with any personal effects. The best guess of researchers is they played a part in the ritual killings, possibly the team that committed all of them, and were killed shortly after the deed was done. ## Lost Ship Frozen in Time In March of 2022 history was made at the discovery of Sir Ernest Shackleton's famous ship, The Endurance, which originally sank over a hundred years ago off the coast of Antarctica. She was found resting over 3000 meters (nearly 10,000 feet) under the surface, sitting upright and proud on the seafloor, looking much the same as the day she sank. When Shackleton attempted the historic cross-Antarctic expedition in 1915, he and his crew of 27 men sailed on The Endurance, a three-masted wooden vessel built in Norway. The plan was for the ship to drop off the crew and their supplies on one side of the continent, while another ship, 600 miles across the frozen landmass was waiting to send the brave adventurers home. But things didn't go as planned and the Endurance became trapped in sea ice before even reaching Antarctica. Despite months of the crew picking away at the ice in an attempt to free her, the Endurance eventually took on water and sank. Fortunately, the ship's captain kept a disciplined log, and charted the coordinates of the boat's location upon sinking. That century-old log book is what helped the team of scientists endeavoring to locate the wreck. The crew that found the Endurance was manned by The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, and the discovery expedition was privately-funded by an anonymous donor to locate, film, and scan the wreck. It took the crew two weeks of searching, thanks to the use of deep-sea probes loaded with surveillance gear, sonar, and high definition cameras— but what they discovered was a time capsule. The ship remained so well preserved because water pressure at that depth is too intense to allow the sea to freeze, and too cold for the types of bacteria that eat away at wood - she rests very much like the day she sank, her only crew now coral and sea anemones, waving in the current. Mensun Bound, Director of Exploration on the expedition, said: > "We are overwhelmed by our good fortune in having located and captured images of Endurance. This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen. It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation. You can even see 'Endurance' arced across the stern, directly below the taffrail. This is a milestone in polar history. However, it is not all about the past; we are bringing the story of Shackleton and Endurance to new audiences, and to the next generation, who will be entrusted with the essential safeguarding of our polar regions and our planet." The ship will remain where she rests, which is protected as a historic site and will remain undisturbed for the time being. ## Key Takeaways - Archaeologists discovered 192 reconstructed human spines in Peru, likely disturbed by grave robbers. - Decapitated Roman remains found in England suggest ritualistic burials or capital punishment. - Two lead sarcophagi, including one with a deformed skull, were found under Notre Dame Cathedral. - Over 140 children and 200 llamas were sacrificed in Peru, possibly to appease gods or gain favor in war. - Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship, The Endurance, was found intact and well-preserved off Antarctica's coast. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What were the spine posts found in Peru? The spine posts found in Peru were a collection of 192 partially-reconstructed human spines on sticks, strung through reeds like beads on a necklace. Each post contained the spinal column of a single individual, but the vertebrae were not stacked anatomically correct. ### What culture did the spine posts belong to? The spine posts belonged to the Chinchorro culture, which existed from 1000 to 1400 CE. ### Why were the spines reassembled? The spines were reassembled by the remaining survivors of the Chinchorro culture, possibly as an attempt to put their loved ones' skeletons back together after grave robbing by colonial explorers. ### What was the significance of the decapitated Romans found in Britain? The decapitated Romans found in Britain, with their heads placed at their feet, are believed to be either criminals buried in a mass grave or victims of capital punishment during the time of Roman rule. Alternatively, it could have been a common burial practice based on superstition or local custom. ### What was found beneath Notre Dame Cathedral? Two lead sarcophagi were discovered beneath Notre Dame Cathedral. One contained the remains of Antoine de la Porte, a canon of the church, and the other contained a mystery corpse with an oddly-deformed skull and missing teeth. ### What is known about the man in the second sarcophagus? The man in the second sarcophagus passed away in his thirties, was missing his teeth, and had an elongated skull, possibly due to the practice of aristocrats' infants wearing tight decorative headbands. His pelvic bones suggest he spent a lot of time in the saddle, earning him the nickname 'Le Cavalier.' ### What was the largest child sacrifice discovered? The largest child sacrifice discovered involved over 140 children between the ages of 5-14, with the majority being between 8-12 years old. The sacrifice also included 200 slaughtered llamas and was conducted by the Chimu Culture. ### What was the significance of the child sacrifice in Peru? The child sacrifice in Peru is believed to have been a last-ditch effort to appease the gods after a recent natural disaster or to gain favor in war, as the Chimu were being brought down by the Inca Empire during that time. ### What was discovered in Antarctica in 2022? In 2022, Sir Ernest Shackleton's famous ship, The Endurance, was discovered resting over 3000 meters under the surface of the sea off the coast of Antarctica. The ship was found upright and well-preserved, looking much the same as the day it sank. ### Why was The Endurance so well-preserved? The Endurance was so well-preserved because the water pressure at that depth is too intense to allow the sea to freeze, and too cold for the types of bacteria that eat away at wood. ## Sources - [Original Side Projects video: Creepy Archaeological Discoveries](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbrKdzjdBws) - [Hero image source](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Cytiau_Celtaidd_-_Celtic_Iron_Age_Huts_at_Mynydd_Twr%2C_Caergybi_%28Holyhead%29%2C_Wales_2021_23.jpg) by Monsyn / openverse, by-sa. ## Related Coverage