French archaeologists have discovered mass horse cemeteries near the commune of Villedieu-sur-Indre in central France. The research was published in the official gazette Web site French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP).
As INRAP explains, the 1.3-hectare excavation site includes many buildings, trenches and a group of nine pits. As radiocarbon dating shows, the buildings date back to the 5th-6th centuries. While the site dates back to the early Middle Ages in the centuries B.C., the pits were much older. Their ages ranged from 100 BC to 100 AD.
To date, scientists have dug two pits and found the skeletons of 28 horses inside. The remains of the animals were carefully laid on their right sides in two rows, with their heads facing south. All of the bones belonged to adult males.
Based on positioning, researchers determined that all the horses were buried at the same time.
Archaeologists have suggested that the bone pits may indicate a mass sacrifice ritual dating back to the end of Gaul’s independence following the Roman conquest. This theory is supported by earlier similar finds in other parts of France, some of which included human skeletons along with horses.
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Source: Gazeta
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