Baby's Skeleton Hints at Human Sacrifice

Hola darlings! Well, what a horrid topic - but I have to say this article about the discovery of an infant's skeleton in an ongoing excavation in the Czech Republic is fascinating. We know that in ancient times human sacrifice was practiced, often in mistaken concepts of "propitiating the gods." The skeleton mentioned in this article is of interest, however, because it dates to the Middle Ages, when it is generally thought that, in Europe at least, human sacrifice had long since vanished (although Robert Graves mentions a rite or ritual that survived into the 1940's - on Malorca? or perhaps it was Majorca? - in his "The White Goddess," the equivalent of "king sacrifice" practiced by the women of the island once a year...). Archaeologists find unique baby skeleton By ČTK / Published 12 December 2007 Usti nad Labem, North Bohemia, Dec 11 (CTK) - Archaeologists have uncovered a unique skeleton of a baby, possibly a sacrifice, from the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries in a medieval house's foundations near a church in the centre of Usti nad Labem, Lukas Gal told CTK Tuesday. The baby that was not older than six months was probably buried there intentionally. The find is unique since the dead were commonly buried at cemeteries then, said Gal from the Terra Verita company working on the archaeological research for the local museum. "Human sacrifices were extremely rare in the Middle Ages," Gal said, adding that the find proves the existence of pre-Christian, pagan habits in the late Middle Ages in the locality. "Christianity was widely spread in the 13th and 14th century, but some older traditions that were not common especially in towns survived here," Gal said. The archaeologists will now measure the bones and put them into their original shape. A team of anthropologists will then determine the baby' sex and study pathological changes. They will also look into whether the baby was killed or not. The entire study of the skeleton is to take one and a half years. Another valuable item - a unique eight-cm-long ceramic statuette of Virgin Mary with Jesus from the late 14th century was recently uncovered at the same locality. The team of archaeologists has been surveying the area in Usti around the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady for a couple of months. They have mapped the history of the original settlement and found items dating back up to 6500 years B.C., such as ceramic vessels, dishes and flint tools, along with coins, tiles and animal bones from later periods. The archaeological research is to continue till the end of January. Afterwards, a large shopping centre will be built on the plot. This story is from the Czech News Agency (ČTK).The Prague Daily Monitor and Monitor CE are not responsible for its content. Copyright 2007 by the Czech News Agency (ČTK). All rights reserved. Copying, dissemination or other publication of this article or parts thereof without the prior written consent of ČTK is expressly forbidden. ******************************************************************************** Personally, I don't think this is evidence of "infant sacrifice." It could just as well be evidence of "crib death" (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and a grieving family not being able to part with the infant by burying her or him in the community graveyard. It certainly was not unheard of - in Europe and elsewhere - for the bodies of dead family members to be buried underneath the floors of the family homestead in ancient times. Perhaps the practice persisted in this particular village in this particular part of Eastern Europe much longer than anywhere else. New discoveries may yet be made. Or, it could just be what I think it is, a family burying a beloved infant close to them, an infant who died too soon.