© Martin SmithTwo of the skeletons excavated by Mortimer Wheeler in the 1930s, dating from the 1st century AD. Both these individuals exhibit bladed weapon injuries, whilst one has a spear head lodged in his spine, previously interpreted (wrongly) as a Roman ballista bolt.
A re-analysis of the burials, including a new programme of radiocarbon dating, has revealed that, rather than dying in a single, catastrophic event, individuals fell in periods of lethal violence spanning multiple generations, spread across the late first century BC to the early first century AD. This is suggestive of episodic periods of bloodshed, possibly the result of localised turmoil, executions or dynastic infighting during the decades leading up to the Roman Conquest of Britain.
BU's Dr Martin Smith, Associate Professor in Forensic and Biological Anthropology, who analysed the bodies said: "The find of dozens of human skeletons displaying lethal weapon injuries was never in doubt, however, by undertaking a systematic programme of radiocarbon dating we have been able to establish that these individuals died over a period of decades, rather than a single terrible event".
The 'war-cemetery' of Maiden Castle Iron Age hillfort in Dorset is one of Britain's most famous archaeological discoveries. Discovered in 1936, many of the skeletons unearthed had clear evidence of trauma to the head and upper body. Dig director at the time, Sir Mortimer Wheeler suggested, were "the marks of battle", caused during a furious but ultimately futile defence of the hillfort against an all-conquering Roman legion. Wheeler's colourful account of an attack on the native hillfort and the massacre of its defenders by invading Romans, was accepted as fact, becoming an iconic event in popular narratives of Britain's 'Island Story'.
Comment: The biography of Eduard Limonov is intertwined with the late 20th century history of the USSR, US, Europe and Russia and illustrates how the complexity of living can manifest within a single life. Eduard Limonov was not intimidated by being different and was willing to explore something new. In the Eng Wiki for Elena Shchapova, there is a link to a Russian article, a completely different story, but if the previous can tell something about history, the following might too...
16.02.2005 15:52
An Italian Count Washes the Dishes After His Russian Wife[...] [...] "I fought, scandalized" - it is not given that is a Russian habit per se - but since Eduard Limonov, the previous husband of Elena Shchapova also fought and scandalized, they shared at least that much.