'Given to the Ground'

This volume describes one of the most exciting and unexpected archaeological discoveries to have been made in Britain in recent years, that of a rare mass grave of executed Vikings on Ridgeway Hill, Dorset. The skeletons, around 50 in total, were predominantly of young adult males all of whom had been decapitated: heads had been deposited in a pile at the southern edge of the grave, while the beheaded bodies had been apparently thrown in with little care. Since their recovery experts have undertaken forensic studies of the bones and have applied cutting edge techniques to elicit the most information possible, in order to understand who the individuals were and what circumstances led to their demise. It reveals an extraordinary story of the discovery of what is arguably the most dramatic physical evidence for violence in early medieval Britain ever encountered by archaeologists.