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Contents Of A Medieval Grave Unearthed On A Remote Island
Baffles Archaeologists
While excavating the
ruins of a medieval monastic retreat on a tiny island off the coast of the
Channel island of Guernsey, archaeologists came across what looked like the
grave of one of the religious inhabitants. But when they
unearthed the tomb, the researchers found not the body of a monk, but
something far more perplexing: the remains of a porpoise.
The team
who made the find are more than a little baffled by what they have discovered,
in what to all intents and purposes looked like a 14th-century grave. “It’s very peculiar, I don’t know what to make of it,”
States of Guernsey archaeologist Philip de Jersey told The Guardian.
(Indirect):
States of Guernsey archaeologist Philip de Jersey told The Guardian that it was
very peculiar, he didn't know what to make of it.
In the
35 years he’s worked as an archaeologist, de Jersey has never seen anything
like it. “It’s a wonderful surprise.”
(Indirect): de Jersey said that it was a
wondeful surprise.
The
island on which the grave9 was found, Chapelle Dom Hue, is a little lump of
rock off the west coast of Guernsey. Connected to the mainland by a causeway
only during low tides, it was once a religious retreat for monks seeking
isolation and solace during the medieval period, and contains the remains of
structures once used.
However, the
discovery of the cetacean confuses the picture somewhat. It was not unusual for
people to feast on porpoises during the 14th century, but then why would the
monks bury the remains of their dinner on a tiny island in which space is a premium?
If they really wanted to dispose of the carcass, the logical move would have
been to chuck it into the sea, which was only 10 meters (33 feet) from the
grave itself.
“If they
had eaten it or killed it for the blubber, why take the trouble to bury it?
Some effort was made to create a neat hole,” de Jersey continueds.
(Indirect): de Jersey continued that if they
had eaten it or killed it for the blubber, why took the trouble to bury it?
Some effort had been made to create a neat hole.
He
suggests that perhaps a monk was not supposed to have the animal, or maybe it
was being preserved. “It may have been packed in salt
and then for some reason they didn’t come back to it.”
(Indirect): de Jersey suggested that it might
had been packed in salt and then for some reason they hadn't come back to it.
But
there is an alternative, if not slightly more bizarre theory. It could be that
the porpoise may have had some as-yet hazy religious significance to the monks
staying on the island. The dolphin is strongly associated with Christianity, as
a representation of the fish, but this use of a porpoise is seemingly quite
novel.
“It’s the
slightly wacky kind of thing that you might get in the Iron Age but not in
medieval times,” de Jersey told The Guardian.
(Indirect): de Jersey told The Guardian that
it was slightly wacky kind of thing that you might get in the Iron Age but not
in medieval times.
The
remains have been sent off for a marine biologist to peruse, but it seems that
perhaps the porpoise behind the grave may never be known.
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