MICHELLE STARR16 APRIL 2019
An archaeological survey in Oxfordshire, England has produced another macabre mystery: 26 ancient skeletons in burial pits, suspected to be around 3,000 years old, dating back to the Iron Age before the Roman occupation of Britain.
What makes the find even more intriguing is evidence suggesting the pits were used for ritual burials.
The chthonic spaces of the British Isles are riddled with so much human history that there is legislation requiring archaeological assessment prior to major spatial works.
These remains were discovered prior to a project by Thames Water, which is laying a pipeline to protect Letcombe Brook, a rare and valuable chalk stream.
"The new Thames Water pipeline provided us with an opportunity to examine a number of previously unknown archaeological sites," said Neil Holbrook of Cotswold Archaeology.
"The Iron Age site at Childrey Warren was particularly fascinating as it provided a glimpse into the beliefs and superstitions of people living in Oxfordshire before the Roman conquest. Evidence elsewhere suggests that burials in pits might have involved human sacrifice."
More
https://www.sciencealert.com/dozens-of-neolithic-human-sacrifice-victims-have-been-found-in-england
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Did the Celts or Druids Perform Human Sacrifice?
Here’s the short answer: yes, the Celts do appear to have performed human sacrifice as part of their religious rituals. And, since the Druids were the religious/scholar/priestly social class, they almost certainly would have participated in human sacrifices, and probably officiated at them.
We have three sorts of data regarding Celtic human sacrifices. We have the words of Classical Greek and Roman writers, usually with a political agenda, and often reporting hearsay (Strabo for instance, was repeating the observations of the earlier no longer extant author Poseidonius), we have a few references in medieval Irish texts, primarily in the mythological tales, and we have archaeological data that is increasingly important.
First, here are some extracts about human sacrifice among the Celts from two Classical authors.
According to Strabo (64/63 B.C.E. – 21 C.E. at least) in his Geography (4.1.13):
The Romans put a stop both to these customs and to the ones connected with sacrifice and divination, as they were in conflict with our own ways: for example, they would strike a man who had been consecrated for sacrifice in the back with a sword, and make prophecies based on his death-spasms; and they would not sacrifice without the presence of the Druids. Other kinds of human sacrifices have been reported as well: some men they would shoot dead with arrows and impale in the temples; or they would construct a huge figure of straw and wood, and having thrown cattle and all manner of wild animals and humans into it, they would make a burnt offering of the whole thing (trans. by Benjamin Fortson, in Koch and Carey 1995, 18).
More:
https://www.digitalmedievalist.com/opinionated-celtic-faqs/human-sacrifice/
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