With Halloween approaching, I guess it's
time for a creepy skeleton story. -Editor
Swiss researchers may have solved the mystery over the
identity of a 17th-century man who was buried face-down with a
knife and purse filled with coins.
X-ray computer tomography of the coins has revealed the man
was likely a merchant, but the reason for his prone burial
continues to puzzle the archaeologists.
Unearthed in 2013 in the Bernese Lakeland region of
Switzerland during the construction on a new underground garage,
the skeleton was found along 342 bodies laid to rest between the
8th and 17th centuries. The individual was among the last 15
bodies to be buried at the ancient cemetery.
The face-down skeleton stood out from all the other
graves.
Under the individual's chest, the archaeologists found
what remained of a leather purse. Over time, the leather had
decomposed and the coins it contained had corroded together to
form a solid block of metal.
Unable to separate the coins, the researchers turned to a
powerful X-ray computer tomograph, a new instrument called
µDETECT. Used in conjunction with a high resolution detector, the
µDETECT revealed the presence of 24 coins.
"The astonishing fact about these coins is that they
belong to three different coin circulation areas, the
Fribourg-Bern-Solothurn, Basel-Freiburg in Breisgau and
Luzern-Schwyz regions," Weiss said.
The finding suggests the individual was moving in these three
areas, which had their own coins in local circulation at that
time.
"It is possible he was a traveling merchant," Weiss
said.
With one exception, a heavily worn silver coin from France,
all the coins in the purse are of rather low value.
"They are really just small change," Weiss said.
"The most interesting to me isn't really one particular
coin, but the ensemble all together. We rarely get such a big
ensemble of small value coins from this time."
The latest among the coins in the purse dates from 1629,
indicating the man must have been buried after then. The reason
behind the face-down burial remains a mystery.
Interesting approach to examining the clump of
coins. -Editor
To read the complete article, see:
Mystery Over Face-Down Skeleton Partly Solved
(www.seeker.com/mystery-over-face-down-skeleton-partly-solved-2019033768.html)
Wayne Homren, Editor
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