Did the Iron Age Britons remove the brains of the dead?

Postmortem changes in an Iron Age Briton woman

Credit: Rebecca Ellis-Haken

In addition, four of the woman’s long bones (both humerus, left ulna, and left femur) had what were previously known as teeth marks, indicating that rats had bitten the bones. The authors disagreed with this initial assessment, thinking that the bones were more closely related to blunt force trauma. Three of the four bones were rounded with sharp points, while the fourth appeared to have been worn out from being used as a weapon after being sharpened into a sharp point. However, all four bones were placed in the correct anatomical positions after burial.

Some archaeologists are not sure whether the woman’s brain was removed or whether the long bones were deliberately crushed into weapons. “These signs show the evolution of the cranium, but if we can connect it and remove the brain, I don’t know,” said Richard Madgwick of Cardiff University, who was not involved in the research. said New Scientist. Madgwick thinks that the long bones may have been broken down before and were simply used as tools and finds it “amazing” that the bones used were laid down in anatomical order.

Second relatives?

As for the young man’s remains, previous DNA tests revealed that he was male. The authors determined that he was between 14.5 and 15.5 years old at the time of his death, and the bones showed growth retardation and vitamin C deficiency.

All these people were similar to the Scottish Iron Age people. Isotope analysis showed that both spent the early part of their lives on the coast – possibly the east coast of Sutherland – moving to the Loch Borralie area when they grew up. They were close biological relatives, perhaps second cousins. The cairn sections show that they were not buried at the same time, however, and their bodies did not receive the same postmortem treatment.

“The genetic and isotopic evidence shows a long-term connection between the people of the sea around the North Sea and the Northern Isle of Scotland, where people and small groups from time to time moved in large areas, and helped to organize and spread ideas and culture,” the authors concluded. And the healing of the woman’s bones “shows that, despite their limited survival in the fossil age, the people of the Iron Age had power and influence in the world of the living.”

Antiquity, 2026. DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2026.10353 (About DOIs).