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Archaeologists are often perceived as scholars who delve into ancient civilizations by examining artifacts and skeletal remains. Yet, they also serve as narrators of the past, piecing together fragments of history to craft tales that whisk us away to bygone eras. These stories, unearthed from forgotten worlds, range from touching and enigmatic to downright terrifying.
10. The Dawn of Oriens
In October 2013, a Roman child’s 1-meter (3 ft) lead-lined coffin was unearthed by a treasure hunter using a metal detector in a Leicestershire field. To avoid calling the child “it,” the public chose the name “Oriens,” meaning “to rise (as the Sun).”
Oriens is thought to have been buried in the third or fourth century. While her exact age remains unknown, bangles found with her suggest she was a girl. The use of a lead coffin indicates she likely belonged to a wealthy or high-status family, as such burials were uncommon, especially for children. Most children of that era were simply wrapped in a shroud and buried in the ground.
Only a few bone fragments of Oriens remain, yet archaeologists have managed to reconstruct parts of her story and the society she lived in. Insights were gained from resins discovered in her coffin.
Stuart Palmer from Archaeology Warwickshire notes, “The presence of frankincense, olive oil, and pistachio nut resin in Oriens’ coffin soil identifies her as a high-status individual, buried with costly Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern customs.” These resins masked the smell of decay during funeral rites and aided her journey to the afterlife. This also highlights that Roman Britain maintained continental burial practices, importing resins from the Middle East.
9. The Hidden Life of a Child Singing Star
Nearly 3,000 years ago, Tjayasetimu, a seven-year-old, was a celebrated singer in the temple choir that entertained the pharaohs of ancient Egypt. While some of her secrets remain buried, curators at the British Museum, where her mummy was displayed in 2014, uncovered fascinating details about her life.
The exact location of her life and work remains unknown, as the British Museum acquired her mummy from a dealer in 1888. However, Tjayasetimu’s remains were remarkably well-preserved. A restoration effort in the 1970s uncovered hieroglyphics and paintings beneath the darkened oil on her bandages. These inscriptions revealed her name and role. Tjayasetimu, meaning “the goddess Isis shall seize them,” was a protective name against evil spirits. Her title, “singer of the interior,” was a prestigious position in the temple of the god Amun. Whether she earned this role through her voice or family ties is unclear, but her significance is evident from her mummification and the golden mask placed over her face.
In 2013, CT scans showed that her body, including her face and shoulder-length hair, remained in excellent condition. With no evidence of prolonged illness or injury, it is believed she succumbed to a brief illness, such as cholera.
8. The Enigma of the Sewer Infants
In the Roman Empire, infanticide was a widespread practice to control family size due to the lack of reliable contraception. It also served to preserve limited resources and enhance the well-being of surviving family members. Roman society did not regard infants under six months as fully human.
A particularly grim find occurred in 1988 at Ashkelon on Israel’s southern coast. Archaeologists uncovered a mass grave containing nearly 100 infants in an ancient sewer beneath a Roman bathhouse. The intact skeletal remains suggest the babies were discarded into the drain shortly after death. Their similar ages and the absence of disease point to infanticide as the likely cause of death.
While Romans favored male offspring, researchers found no consistent evidence that female infants were systematically killed more often than males. This was also the case at the Ashkelon bathhouse.
Some archaeologists suggest the bathhouse doubled as a brothel. They propose that the infants were the offspring of prostitutes working there, who may have spared some female infants to raise them as future courtesans. Although both genders engaged in prostitution in the Roman Empire, historians believe women were often more sought after.
7. The Remarkable Child Laborers of Metalwork
Around 4,000 years ago in prehistoric Britain, children were assigned the intricate task of adorning jewelry and weapons with minuscule gold studs, some as fine as human hair. In certain instances, these studs were densely packed at over 1,000 per square centimeter (6,500/in) on wooden surfaces. This discovery was made after fragments of a lavishly decorated wooden dagger handle were unearthed in the early 1800s from the Bush Barrow burial mound near Stonehenge.
The craftsmanship is so meticulous that it’s nearly invisible to the naked eye. Researchers concluded that teenagers and children as young as 10 were likely responsible for this exceptional work on the dagger handle. Without magnification, the average adult’s vision would be insufficient, especially since eyesight begins to decline as early as age 21.
Despite using basic tools, these children demonstrated an advanced understanding of design and geometry. However, their exquisite artistry came at a significant personal cost. Their eyesight would have deteriorated rapidly, potentially leading to severe myopia by age 15 or even partial blindness by age 20. This would have left them unable to perform other tasks, making them dependent on their communities for survival.
6. The Surprisingly Nurturing Parents
Some archaeologists from the University of York argue that Neanderthals have been misunderstood and aim to redefine their story. While the traditional view portrays Neanderthal children as living perilous, harsh, and brief lives, the York team arrived at a different interpretation after analyzing social and cultural evidence from Neanderthal sites across Europe.
Dr. Penny Spikins, the lead researcher, stated, “The perception of Neanderthals is evolving. This is partly due to evidence showing they interbred with humans—suggesting similarities—and partly due to new insights into their lifestyles. There’s a crucial difference between a harsh childhood and a childhood spent in a challenging environment.”
Spikins believes Neanderthal children enjoyed strong familial bonds and were taught tool-making skills. At two sites in different countries, the York team found finely crafted stones alongside crudely chipped ones, indicating that children were learning to make hand axes under adult guidance.
While there’s no definitive proof, Spikins speculates that these prehistoric children might have played peek-a-boo, as both great apes and humans engage in such games. Examining Neanderthal infant and child graves, Spikins noted that parents buried their young with care, often including artifacts more frequently with children than adults. The York team also highlights evidence suggesting Neanderthal parents cared for their sick or injured children, sometimes for extended periods.
5. The Boy Scouts of Roman Egypt
Historians are studying approximately 7,500 documents, believed to date back to the sixth century or earlier, to understand childhood in the ancient town of Oxyrhynchos in Roman Egypt. With a population exceeding 25,000, Oxyrhynchos served as the Roman administrative hub for the region and was a major center for Egypt’s weaving industry.
From papyri unearthed from an Oxyrhynchos garbage dump a century ago, historians discovered that Roman Egypt had a youth organization akin to the Boy Scouts, called a “gymnasium,” where young men were trained to become model citizens. Membership was restricted to boys from free-born Egyptian, Greek, and Roman families, a demographic that represented only about 10–25 percent of the town’s population due to their wealth.
For eligible boys, joining the gymnasium marked the beginning of their journey into adulthood. Men achieved full adulthood upon marriage, typically in their early twenties. Women, who often married in their late teens, prepared for their roles by managing household duties.
Free-born boys who didn’t qualify for the gymnasium often started working as preteens, sometimes as apprentices under contracts lasting two to four years. Many of these contracts were in the weaving industry. Historians also uncovered a single apprenticeship contract for a girl, likely an exceptional case as she was an orphan needing to settle her late father’s debts.
Enslaved children could enter similar apprenticeship contracts as free-born boys. However, unlike free-born boys who lived with their families, enslaved children could be sold and separated from their parents, often living with their owners or masters. Records show that some enslaved children were sold as young as two years old.
4. The Enigma of the Moose Geoglyph
This tale of discovery began with a glimpse into the future. In 2011, satellite images revealed a massive moose geoglyph in the Ural Mountains, believed to predate Peru’s famous Nazca Lines by thousands of years. The technique used, known as “lithic chipping,” suggests the structure could date back to 3000 or 4000 B.C.
The geoglyph spans approximately 275 meters (900 ft) and features two antlers, four legs, and an elongated muzzle. Facing north, it would have been visible as a gleaming white figure against green grass from a nearby ridge in prehistoric times. Today, it is covered with soil.
Excavators have been astounded by the intricate design. “The hoof consists of small crushed stones and clay,” said Stanislav Grigoriev of the Russian Academy of Sciences. “It appears there were low walls and narrow passages between them. The muzzle area follows a similar pattern, with crushed stones, clay, four small walls, and three passages.”
Researchers also found evidence of two fireplaces at the site, each used only once. These fireplaces may have been part of a significant ritual. However, many questions remain unanswered, such as who constructed the geoglyph and why. There is no archaeological evidence of a culture advanced enough to create such a structure in this region during that era.
Researchers believe their most intriguing find relates to children. Over 150 tools, ranging from 2–17 centimeters (1–7 in) in length, were uncovered at the site. They suggest that children collaborated with adults in a communal effort to construct the moose geoglyph. This appears to be a collective endeavor driven by shared values rather than child labor.
3. The Infant Awaiting Eternity
Over four decades ago, two brothers hunting in Greenland discovered 500-year-old mummies, naturally preserved by the Arctic climate, from the ancient Inuit settlement of Qilakitsoq. Beneath a rock outcrop, two graves held eight bodies—six women and two young children—all dressed for hunting. Inuit traditions of the time required individuals to be prepared to hunt even in the afterlife.
The “Greenland Mummies,” as they are known, provided significant insights into the lifestyles of these ancient people but also left many questions unanswered. Archaeologists identified familial connections among some of the individuals, but they were not buried according to family lines, which remains a mystery. Another puzzle is the absence of men in the graves, contrary to Inuit burial customs.
All but one of the women had tattoos, a fashionable practice at the time. They were well-nourished, with their diet primarily consisting of seafood. The condition of their bodies indicated they worked with animal skins and sinew. The older child and two women likely died from illness, but the causes of death for the other adults and whether they died simultaneously remain unclear.
The most heart-wrenching story belongs to the youngest child, a six-month-old baby boy. He appears to have been buried alive, his face tilted upward as if awaiting his mother’s touch. Inuit tradition at the time dictated that if no other woman could care for a child after his mother’s death, he would be buried alive or suffocated. It was believed that burying the child with his mother would allow them to journey together to the afterlife.
2. Offerings to the Lake Deities
Bronze Age villages were scattered around the Alpine lakes of Germany and Switzerland. Excavations in the 1970s and 1980s uncovered over 160 houses dating back 2,600–3,800 years. These lakeside homes frequently flooded, forcing residents to relocate to higher ground during floods and return when conditions improved.
To cope with flooding, the lake dwellers adapted their homes. They constructed houses on stilts or sturdy wooden foundations, enclosed them with wooden fences, and lined the village perimeters with children’s skulls and skeletons.
Archaeologists suggest these skulls may have been offerings to lake gods to prevent flooding. Some skulls showed signs of trauma from clubs or axes, but researchers believe the children were not sacrificed alive. Instead, they likely died earlier, possibly in conflicts, and were later offered to the gods. At one site, most of these children, under 10 years old, were buried at the flood’s high-water mark. However, the graves of most lake dwellers remain undiscovered, leaving typical burial practices unknown.
1. The Cloud Children
In July 2013, archaeologists discovered 35 sarcophagi, each approximately 70 centimeters (30 in) tall, in a high-altitude area of Peru’s Amazonas region. These small sarcophagi are believed to hold the remains of children from the enigmatic Chachapoyas culture, also called “Warriors of the Clouds” due to their residence in the mountain cloud forests. Between the ninth century and 1475, when they were conquered by the Incas, the Chachapoya built villages and farm terraces on steep slopes, raised guinea pigs and llamas, and engaged in internal conflicts. Their culture was ultimately eradicated by diseases like smallpox brought by European explorers.
Little is known about the Chachapoya and their children, as they left no written records. However, 16th-century Spanish documents depict them as formidable warriors. Pedro Cieza de Leon, who documented Peru’s history, described them as “the whitest and most handsome people I have seen in the Indies, with wives so beautiful and gentle that many were chosen as wives for the Incas and even taken to the Sun Temple.”
The Chachapoya left behind one enduring legacy: their mummified dead, placed in uniquely strange sarcophagi perched on high ledges overlooking valleys. These clay coffins stood upright, adorned to resemble humans with paint, feathered tunics, jewelry, and even trophy skulls. Yet, it remains a mystery why the children were buried in a separate cemetery from adults or why all the small sarcophagi face west, a deviation from typical Chachapoya burial practices.
