Children find trauma instead of fun at school playground after they stumble onto ‘atypical’ ancient horror

A group of young children in the French city of Dijon recently stumbled upon something way more ancient than a lost lunchbox: a human skeleton sticking out of a circular pit right near their school playground. This discovery happened this month near the Josephine Baker primary school, and it’s certainly not the first. 

France’s National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) said in a news release that this particular skeleton was sitting upright and facing westward, with its hands resting in its lap. Get this: four other skeletons have been found in similar upward positions, all just this month alone.

According to the People Magazine report, these skeletons are believed to belong to the Gauls, a group that called Europe home during the Iron Age and the Roman period. You can imagine the archaeologists are having a field day, even if the find was a bit traumatic for the kiddos. Imagine living in a place old enough, or culturally rich enough, to find a historical artefact in your backyard.

I know this is weird to say, but I would love to find an ancient skeleton that teaches us something new about history

Archaeo-anthropologist Annamaria Latron shared her thoughts with Le Monde, noting that “this seated position is atypical.” She explained that archaeologists are usually “more used to burials of reclining individuals, in general on their backs, with the lower limbs extended and not bent like this.”

Last year, another 13 skeletons were unearthed not far from the same spot, according to INRAP. It seems like Dijon is a hotbed for ancient history, literally right under our feet.

Most of the remains discovered so far have been those of men, typically between 5-foot-3 and 5-foot-9. Their teeth are surprisingly well-preserved, too, for the time period. There was one exception, though: a skeleton belonging to a child. Latron also pointed out that “their bones display traces of osteoarthritis, suggesting intense physical activity.” 

Despite these incredible finds, archaeologists are still scratching their heads about why these bodies were buried in such unique, seated ways. Latron admitted, “We do not have a preferred hypothesis.” She mentioned that “we’re missing the surface layer, which was above the tombs.” This missing piece of information means that they don’t have enough information to create a hypothesis yet. 

Latron summed it up perfectly, saying that “being an archaeologist can be a very frustrating profession.” You find these incredible clues to the past, but sometimes the full answer remains just out of reach. Thanks to this startling find, the kids probably have one hell of a story to share for the rest of their lives. 

Finding a real skeleton is a lot more interesting than finding a fake Halloween skeleton, even if the latter comes with candy. Wait, maybe that is just me.