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Mystery of 39 skulls found at London Wall is solved after 25 years:
Decapitated heads were 'gladiators' who fought in the City
簡單翻譯：
1988年，在倫敦市政廳地下挖掘到的三十九顆頭顱
長久以來，一直被認為是西元一世紀時，不列顛人為了抵禦羅馬統治
被 Queen Boudicca（愛西尼女王布狄卡）所率領的不列顛各部落所殺的羅馬士兵
但倫敦博物館近來的研究發現，
這些頭顱極有可能是古羅馬時期的倫敦地區所存在的「神鬼戰士」（gladiators）。
幾乎所有頭顱都有遭受暴力的痕跡，
顯示在死前曾遭到致命的重擊，有的下顎骨上甚至有砍劈的裂痕。
倫敦一直沒有存在過神鬼戰士的直接證據，只有過一塊墓碑，但被認為是從歐洲帶過來的
如今這項25年後的研究，被認為是第一次發現古羅馬時期的倫敦存在著神鬼戰士的證據。
原文：
Skulls discovered within the boundaries of ancient London a quarter of a
century ago are now believed to be those of gladiators, brutally killed for the
amusement of Roman audiences.
The haul of 39 skulls, discovered beneath the site of the Guildhall in the City
of London, were discovered in 1988 and were believed to have originated from
human remains washed out of burial sites by the Walbrook, one of the area’s
lost rivers.
But now after 25 years in storage, the remains have been re-examined by an
historian from the Museum of London, who believes they are the first evidence
of gladiators in London.
Studies have revealed that most of the skulls show signs of injury before death
- despite them dying during peace time.
Rebecca Redfern, of the museum's Centre for Human Bioarchaeology, now believes
that the skulls are either the result of sacrificial headhunting, or the remains
of gladiators, killed for sport.
Some of the heads had been decapitated and one of the haul had part of its
jawbone sliced off - almost all had been the victims of violence -
The Independent reports.
'The level of violence here exceeds the level needed to kill someone',
Dr Redfern said, adding that they showed 'lethal, multiple blows to the head'
alongside healed injuries consistent with a brutal life.
The full findings of her research will be published this week in the Journal
of Archaeological Science.
The skulls were discovered in a pit beneath what is now a Waterstones bookshop
- at 52 - 63 London Wall - which was excavated in 1988.
The area was an industrial one in Roman times known as the Upper Walbrook
Valley.
Although historians have known about the existence of an amphitheatre at the
site for many years,Dr Redfern said it was the first time physical evidence of
gladiators had been found in London.
She said: 'It’s utterly, utterly amazing. We don’t have evidence for this
type of thing in Roman London.
She added: 'There is no primary source evidence for gladiators in London...
There is a gladiator tombstone, but we think it was brought to Britain
(from Europe no earlier than the 17th century).
The Times reports that the remains were thrown into the pits between 120 and
160 AD - which was peace time in Roman Britain.
Dr Redfern said the bones were not supposed to have been in the pits at all
as this was within the walls of the City - where corpses were not supposed to
have been buried.
In August construction workers in London made an 'unexpected and fascinating
discovery' during work on the city's billion pound Crossrail project.
Around 20 Roman skulls were unearthed by tunnellers working beneath Liverpool
Street Station, where the historic River Walbrook flows.
Working under the direction of Crossrail's archaeologists, the construction
workers carefully removed the human skulls and Roman pottery.
They were found buried in clusters in the sediment of the historic tributary.
For safety reasons the archaeologists had to leave the work to the tunnellers
as the skulls were buried as deep as six metres below ground.
The cross-London scheme has already led to a number of exciting discoveries,
including around 4,000 skeletons found buried in the Eldon Street area.
These skeletons will be carefully removed during major archaeological
excavations this year.
The discovery of the skulls and pottery was made below the site of the
historic Bedlam burial ground.
Bedlam hospital was a psychiatric asylum and patients who died while at the
hospital were buried in a cemetery first established in the 16th century.
Historically, Roman skulls have been found along the Thames tributary Walbrook
during various excavations in the region.
This led to speculation the skulls found were heads decapitated by
Queen Boudicca's army during the rebellion against Roman occupation in the 1st
century AD.