The community of Griswold, CT had forgotten about the old burying ground used by the Walton family in the 19thcentury until children playing near a gravel mine in 1990 found a couple of skulls that had become dislodged from some… Read More ›
Archaeology
Halloween Horror Post #1 (2017): The curse of Rowland Jenkins
History is full of stories about curses spoken by prisoners, either rightfully or wrongfully convicted, on the way to their execution. The hexes were a prisoner’s supernatural retribution for perceived wrongs that the court dealt them. This cosmic vengeance… Read More ›
The discovery of a 5500-year-old cold case
In 1896, Sir Wallis Budge, Keeper of the Egyptian Department at the British Museum at the turn of the 20th century, reportedly witnessed the exhumation of six mummies dated to the predynastic era, the period between the Neolithic and Dynastic periods… Read More ›
Rediscovering Betsy Ross’ bones
Betsy Ross was a talented seamstress and upholsterer who was widely believed to have made the first American flag. She was also an 18th century entrepreneur who made supplies for the American soldiers during the Revolution and lost two of her… Read More ›
Did long-term corseting really cause women to meet an early demise?
H/T: Dr. Kristina Killgrove’s article “Here’s How Corsets Deformed The Skeletons Of Victorian Women” on Forbes. For centuries people have deformed their skeletons to mold different parts of their bodies to what is considered an ideal shape in their culture. Long-term corseting,… Read More ›
How to make honey infused corpse medicine
Corpse medicine was a type of remedy produced with the bones, organs, and blood from dead bodies. It is mentioned in ancient medical texts and histories from Greece, China, Mesopotamia, and India. One of the more peculiar accounts of corpse… Read More ›
The vampire slayings of 19th century New England
The vampire myth originates in ancient beliefs in demons or evil spirits who feed on the blood and flesh of the living. Cultures all over the world have a version of a blood-sucking creature that returns from the grave to… Read More ›
Skeletal remains of Cromwell’s prisoners of war found in mass graves
Archaeologists overseeing construction at Durham University’s Palace Green Library discovered two mass graves in November of 2013. Durham University archaeologists didn’t know it at the time but these skeletal remains would solve a mystery that dates back to 1650. On… Read More ›
Archaeologists found an Aztec skull rack that once held tens of thousands of human heads
On Thursday, August 20th archaeologists from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) announced they unearthed a masonry platform and 35 skulls in the Templo Mayor complex, in what is now Mexico City. They believe the skulls and platform… Read More ›
A pharaonic murder mystery that was solved with forensic analysis
Forensic analyses of two Egyptian mummies published in the British Medical Journal in 2012 may have answered questions scholars had about the outcome of an ancient conspiracy against Pharaoh Ramesses III and the identity of a contorted mummy believed to… Read More ›
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