6. An Anglo-Saxon was beheaded at Stonehenge
It’s not just prehistoric artefacts that are found at Stonehenge. Both Roman and medieval items have been found at the site, presumably left by itinerant ancient litterbugs since the site wasn’t occupied after the Iron Age. And it seems that one unfortunate man met a sticky end at Stonehenge in the Anglo-Saxon period. He died sometime in the 7th century, and was forgotten about until his lonely grave was found during a 1923 excavation. A small nick in the lower jaw and a cut in the fourth vertebra suggest that he was killed with a single, clean blow.
This all suggests a professional execution, probably with a sword. Archaeologists have determined that he was aged between 28 and 32, and came from the South of England. Further archaeological CSI suggests that whoever he was, he was not a popular chap. After being beheaded, he was simply stuffed by force into a crudely dug pit and covered up. This all tallies with what we know about execution in this period. Other execution victims have been found in prehistoric sites, possibly because they were thought to be haunted, never settled by nice people, and hence served as an extra punishment.
