Archaeologists and anthropologists often find ancient humans buried alongside dogs, cats, and even horses. We are still piecing together the mystery of why co-burials were common. An archeological site in northern Italy points to some potential reasons. The co-burials could have been meant to provide a meal and companionship in the afterlife. They could even have served as complex funeral rites in the Iron Age. The archeological findings and theories are described in a study published February 14 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.Â
[Related: Over 6,000 sacrificed animal bones tell a story of Iron Age Spain.]
In the study, a team of researchers from Italy and Switzerland looked at skeletons from the Seminario Vescovile archaeological site in Verona, Italy. The remains date back from Third to First Century BCE, long before the fictitious Romeo and Juliet would have lived, loved, and died there. The people who lived here were linked to Celtic cultural groups who crossed the Alps around the Fourth Century BCE.
Of the 161 people buried at Seminario Vescovile, only 16 were buried alongside animals. The lack of animal representation intrigued the team from the start. Some of the gravesites included pigs, chicken, and part of a cow. These likely would have represented food offering for the dead, since these animals were commonly eaten by people.Â
However, four of the people at this site were buried alongside the remains of dogs and/or horses. These animals were not commonly eaten and the presence of horses and dogs was significant to the team. Other Iron Age findings in France and Switzerland indicate that horses and dogs were symbolic at the time. These animals are often present in what appears to be sacrificial rituals, funeral rites, and are frequently associated with specific deities from the time. For the team, the characteristics of a plot called Burial 46 were particularly interesting.Â
“It includes the complete skeleton of a…
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