Decapitated bodies found in Dorset burial pit were executed Vikings
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Fifty beheaded young men found in a burial pit last year were probably executed Vikings, archaeologists revealed today. Teeth samples from 10 of the decapitated warriors discovered in Weymouth, in Dorset, show that they were Scandinavian invaders who fell into the hands of Anglo Saxons. Dating back to between AD910 and AD1030, the mass war grave is among the largest examples ever found of executed foreigners buried in one spot. The remains have been analysed by Dr Jane Evans and Carolyn Chenery at NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, part of the British Geological Survey, based in Nottingham. The isotopes - variations of elements - found in the men's teeth show that they grew up in countries where the climate is colder than in Britain, with one individual thought to be from north of the Arctic Circle. [...]




