The skeletons of 17 decapitated bodies have been uncovered by archaeologists at a Roman burial site in the United Kingdom, experts said.
A team of experts from the University of Oxford discovered the burial sites in Wintringham near St. Neots, Cambridgeshire– about 50 miles north of London, the BBC reported on Saturday.
The headless skeletons were among several Iron Age and Roman finds in the area, which is being excavated in anticipation of the development of 2,800 homes.
In addition to the skeletons, archeologists uncovered an Iron Age settlement that included a road network, farming enclosures, and 40 roadhouses.
Roman coins, brooches, pottery, a lead lid or platter, and a kiln were also found.
“These results add greatly to our understanding of the local landscape’s history which we can now share with local communities,” Oxford archaeology professor and project manager Patrick Moan told the BBC.
The finds will be featured in an upcoming installment of the television show “Digging for Britain” on BBC Two.
Experts surmise that the skeletons date to the third century BCE. Eleven out of the 17 bodies were buried with their decapitated heads placed at their feet.
The remains are now set to be examined by specialists in hopes of gaining more insight into burial practices in the area.
Similar bizarre discoveries are hardly limited to archaeological sites. Earlier this month, students at the University of California, Berkeley got a fright when the school announced that a skeleton had been found in an abandoned the Clark Kerr campus.
“It doesn’t surprise me that much,” an unidentified local man said at the time.
“There’s a lot of homeless activity here, so it was an abandoned building.”
