A Scottish homeowner has stumbled upon a collection of human bones while digging a small mound in his house on the country's Orkney Islands.
Archaeologists say the skeletal remains date back to the Stone Age era, about 5,000 years ago, National Geographic News reported.
"Nobody had known it was an archaeological site before that," said county archaeologist for Orkney Julie Gibson.
"We have got the assorted remains of many, many people who have been deposited in this tomb at different times," she added.
Archaeologists who sent a camera into a crack between stone slabs making up the tomb's ceiling saw an ancient human skull on a pile of muddy bones.
Excavations have revealed about a thousand female and male skeletal parts belonging to different age groups, including infants.
According to Gibson, the site is dubbed the Banks Tomb and is the first undisturbed Neolithic burial site to be discovered in Scotland in 30 years.
Archaeologists have also found animal bones at the site which suggests people rarely visited the burial site.
"It suggests the tomb was not entirely sealed and that otters were trampling in and out a lot" throughout the tomb's use,” said Gibson.
Source: Press TV [July 24, 2011]
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| The west cell of the Banks Tomb, looking back towards the central chamber. The entrance passage is visible on the left side of the photograph [Credit: ORCA] |
"Nobody had known it was an archaeological site before that," said county archaeologist for Orkney Julie Gibson.
"We have got the assorted remains of many, many people who have been deposited in this tomb at different times," she added.
 |
| One of the skulls recovered from the west cell of the Banks Tomb [Picture: ORCA] |
Excavations have revealed about a thousand female and male skeletal parts belonging to different age groups, including infants.
According to Gibson, the site is dubbed the Banks Tomb and is the first undisturbed Neolithic burial site to be discovered in Scotland in 30 years.
 |
| Painstaking work — archaeologist Dave Reay carefully uncovers the prehistoric remains [Credit: ORCA] |
"It suggests the tomb was not entirely sealed and that otters were trampling in and out a lot" throughout the tomb's use,” said Gibson.
Source: Press TV [July 24, 2011]