An ancient cemetery was discovered in Hassleben Thuringia which remained the richest ancient grave found in Germany for almost a hundred years. Not only was the oldest written Germanic word ever discovered etched onto a comb, but hundreds of Roman coins, ceramic fragments and Roman-style brooches were also discovered. This is no accident as much of our knowledge regarding Thuringia and broader Germania comes from the Roman historian Tacitus. The Elbe Germanic tribes who moved into this region were allies of the Romans who were trading partners, a buffer to the neighbouring Chatti - sworn enemies of Rome, as well as specialised in metalworking of iron and precious metals.

Here you can see the richly outfitted grave of the Princess of Hassleben which demonstrates the influential noble class who had a very close relationship with the Romans. She was a young woman buried with a choker, golden fibulae, a ring, a collier of roman glass beads, roman coins, pottery plates and vessels. In her mouth was a Roman gold coin - known as Charons obol - which would provide payment to Charon the ferryman to allow her soul to reach the world of the dead. Next to her remains lay the skeleton of a small dog - possibly her personal pet.

The Roman conquest of Britain began in 43 AD but resistance in the north was fierce. Roman General Quintus Petillius Cerialis led the 9th Legion into the north and founded Eboracum in 71 AD (which became York) Originally Eboracum was intended to be a military fortress aligned along the river Ouse measuring about 50 acres in size. This wooden camp was upgraded to stone in 108 AD and garrisoned by the 6th Legion. The famous Emperor Hadrian reportedly visited Eboracum in 122 AD in order to plan his great walled frontier, which would be named after him. Emperor Septimus Severus visited in 208 AD and made it his private base while campaigning against Scotland, and he became the first of three Roman Emperors who would die in Eboracum. In 237, the town became a colonia, the highest legal status any Roman city could attain as Eboracum was the largest town in the north and the capital of Britannia Inferior. This is exactly the time period from when these 7 gladiators hailed.

Detailed analysis of these gladiators from York revealed some fascinating results. The bones showed various degrees of wear and tear as one might expect from the dangerous sport: 6DRIF-18 revealed a spinal fracture of the first vertibrae, 6DRIF-21, 6DRIF-3, and 3DRIF-16 meanwhile have fractured forearms, ankles and wrists. 6DRIF-22 has a skull injury as well as a stab to the neck - his extra vertebrae did not seem to assist with his fate. 6DRIF-23 meanwhile had 4 cuts to his jaw and was fully decapitated - clearly not the best fate to have. Last but not least 3DRIF-26 is fascinating indeed - he had a left shoulder injury, fractured ribs, damage wrists - and from a genetic standpoint is a deviation from the rest. His background compared to ancient samples from the time period matches very close to Ptolemaic Egyptians or the Near East.

On Ridgeway Hill in the County of Dorset, a mass burial was found with the remains of 54 males. These individuals had all been executed in a gruesome manner with their decapitated heads dumped together in a large pit. Interestingly enough all of the sharp blade wounds had been struck from the front, meaning these individuals had faced their enemy. Radiocarbon dating showed the bodies were from 890-1030 AD. Strontium isotopes found in the bones show these individuals were originally from Scandinavia.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which had been written around 890 AD, provides a year-by-year account of all the major happenings in Anlgo Saxon England. Aethelred the Unready had been king from 978-1016 AD - it is quite possible these bodies died during his reign. Initially the king had paid Viking raiders off with over 10,000 pounds to stop raiding their lands. Later they began hiring Norse mercenaries to fight off the invading Vikings - however these mercenaries would switch sides frequently and proved too risky.