Skeleton Found in Belgium Turned Out to Be a Bone Puzzle From Two Eras

Belgian scientists have discovered that a unique skeleton found in a Gallo-Roman tomb in the 1970s consists of bones from several people, The Brussels Times reports.

The skeleton turned out to be a ‘jigsaw puzzle’ of the bones of 7 people, with the oldest bones being thousands of years older than the youngest.

This conclusion was reached by scientists from the Free University of Brussels (VUB).

‘I don't like to claim to be a sensation, but as far as I know, this is the first time [in the world] that something like this has been found,’ says Barbara Veselka, lead author of the study and head of the osteoarchaeological laboratory.

The archaeologists first discovered the skeleton in a Gallo-Roman tomb in the village of Pommeryul, Hainaut province. The bones lay among ashes and cremated human remains.

50 years later, a team of VUB researchers decided to investigate the discovery. They could not believe their eyes.

Some bones were more damaged than others, and the vertebrae did not fit together. Some of them clearly belonged to an adult, while others belonged to a child or teenager.

‘We focused on the cremated remains, but I decided to look at this skeleton first. And I'm glad I did! Wow, I thought, something special is happening here. These bones don't seem to fit together,’ says Barbara Veselka.

Carbon dating and genetic analysis confirmed the scientists' suspicions. The skeleton bones not only belonged to at least seven different people who were not related, but also had a huge gap in time.

The oldest bones dated back to the Neolithic period and probably belonged to one of the first West German farmers who lived on the border with the Netherlands around 3100 BC.

At the same time, the skull, which was the ‘youngest’ in this composition, dates back to the Gallo-Roman period. Scientists have discovered that the deceased was a relative of two children - a boy and a girl - who were buried 120 kilometres away in another Gallo-Roman tomb in Tongeren.

Most likely, these are three siblings, as genetic analysis showed that they have the same parents.

Previously, three complex skeletons have been found in the world: two Scottish finds from the Late Neolithic period and one Egyptian mummy from the Roman period. But there was not such a large time gap between these bones.

The very fact that there are different bones in a skeleton does not shock scientists, because Neolithic people could assemble skeletons using bones from different people.

‘Neolithic people did a lot of things with skeletons. They joined bones together, cut them, and processed them,’ Barbara says.

According to the researcher, it could have been a ritual to unite different tribes or families. But scientists are concerned about the main question: where did the Roman skull come from?

Barbara Veselka suggests that some Gallo-Romans could have come across the Neolithic skeleton during a cremation ritual or deliberately entered the grave.

They may have noticed the absence of the skull and ‘repaired’ the skeleton with a new skull before resealing the grave.

This hypothesis is supported by another discovery from the same tomb, a Gallo-Roman pin that could have been a funerary gift.

‘It makes sense. We know that the Romans considered their dead an integral part of society. But we also have no sources from that time that would describe such a custom,’ the researcher adds.