Bizarre Bird Skull Burial
Photo credit: Malgorzata Kot/University of Warsaw
In 2018, a project re-examined long-stored artifacts found in Tunel Wielki Cave in Poland. When researchers opened one box, they discovered a child’s skeleton—minus the head. The youngster suffered from malnutrition and died, aged ten, during the late 18th or early 19th century. Beyond that, the story turned hazy. Oddly, the shallow grave was alone, not just in its own cave but all over the region, where not a single other cave burial existed.
When researchers sought answers in an old photograph and the case notes, things got downright bizarre. The skeleton was discovered in the late 1960s, and right afterward, the skull vanished when it was sent off for analysis—but not before archaeologists recorded a strange burial practice. For unknown reasons, somebody placed the tiny skull of a bird (a chaffinch) in the child’s mouth. Pressed against the youngster’s cheek was another chaffinch head. The lonely grave was already mysterious, but the inclusion of two tiny bird skulls stumped the experts.
I think the act of trying to piece together the puzzle of how or what some old, aged find was used for would be exciting...not to mention satisfying if you could figure it out!
Coffee in the kitchen this morning. Help yourself to the coffee as I have a blood test at the V.A. and I need to go study for it!
