Ancient skeleton unearthed in France is latest to be found sitting upright | France

Children at a primary school in eastern France discovered a strange attraction next to their playground this week: a skeleton sitting upright, emerging from a circular pit.

This is the latest in a series of bodies discovered in the city of Dijon, buried in a seated position facing west.

Scientists are trying to understand why the ancient and little-known Gauls chose to bury some of their dead in this way – and whether the people were buried alive.

The last skeleton, remarkably well preserved, was found next to Joséphine Baker primary school.

Similar to four others discovered nearby earlier this month, it lies standing at the bottom of a meter-wide pit.

The skeleton’s hands rest on its knees. Like the others, he leans against the eastern wall, looking west.

Last year, 13 other skeletons were discovered about twenty meters away on the same construction site. The bodies are thought to date from around 300 to 200 BC.

Over the past 30 years, archaeological digs have revealed that Dijon was once a favored location for the Gauls, a Celtic group perhaps best known for the French comic strip Asterix and Obelix.

The Gauls first appeared around the fifth century BC, spreading across large swaths of modern-day France, Belgium, Switzerland and further east.

Little is known about their culture beyond the writings of others – and these can be biased, such as those recorded by the Roman emperor Julius Caesar, who conquered Gaul in 50 BC.

Including earlier discoveries in 1992, approximately 20 tombs of seated Gauls were discovered in a small area of ​​downtown Dijon.

This represents more than a quarter of the 75 tombs representing seated Gauls recorded in the world. Other sites have been discovered in France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Régis Labeaune, a researcher at the French archaeological institute Inrap, said the latest bodies were “particularly impressive discoveries”.

“Given the number and quality of these discoveries, we can say that there was a significant Gallic settlement in Dijon,” he told AFP.

However, much remains unknown. Was this bizarre burial a punishment for those who had done wrong – or a reward for the powerful?

Five of the bodies showed signs of violence, including one with a fatal skull injury.

With the exception of an armband, which dates the settlement from the Gallic era, no personal object or ornament was found among the Dijon bodies.

They were only men between 1.62 and 1.82 meters tall, with the exception of a child discovered in 1992.

Their teeth have been very well preserved over the years, “probably because they did not know sugar”, explains Annamaria Latron, archaeo-anthropologist from Inrap.

“Their bones show traces of osteoarthritis, suggesting intense physical activity,” particularly in the legs, she explains.

So why were they buried in this bizarre way? “We don’t have a favored hypothesis,” Latron said. “We are missing the surface layer that was above the graves.”

“Being an archaeologist can be a very frustrating job,” she added.