Tomb Of Stone Age Humans, Otters Found After Freak Accident
Thursday, July 7th, 2011
A tomb containing several Stone Age generations of human remains dating back up to 5,000 years, along with a few otter skeletons of the same era, have been located on an island in Northern Scotland. The Tomb of the Otters, signifies the most important neolithic find this region has seen in over 30 years.
So, why are there otter bones amongst the final resting place of so many humans? Apparently the tomb wasn’t used very often and someone forgot to close the door when they left.
“It suggests the tomb was not entirely sealed and that otters were trampling in and out a lot” throughout the tomb’s use, (county archaeologist for Orkney, Julie) Gibson said.
“For that to occur, you must think there was a gap of a year or two” between grave visits or burials.
The site was discovered when a resident attempted to level an area of his property to give himself a better ocean view. You know, to see the otters.
[Nat Geo]