Chinese archaeologists uncovered the remains of 97 human bodies stacked in a 5000-year-old burned down house that was a mere 20 square meters. The researchers believe the bodies found at the site named Hamin Mangha in China may have perished of an epidemic that quickly collected its victims leaving no time to bury the deceased.
Grisly Scene as 97 Human Bodies Piled in Just 20 Square Meters
An excavation of a prehistoric Chinese village now named Hamin Mangha revealed a grisly scene as a small house of only 20 square meters held the human bodies of 97 juveniles and middle-age adults. Of the 97 remains, none of the bodies were over the age of 35 and only half of them were over 19 years old, meaning the rest belonged to children and young adolescents.
Though the researchers did not name a specific disease, the number of individuals in the mass grave indicates whatever it was, the disease plucked away these children, teenagers, and young adults faster than the remaining villagers to properly bury them.
The remains were stacked in some areas, jumbled in others, and completely askew in parts as more and more victims were claimed by the mystery disease. The building burned down sometime 5,000 years ago and the deceased have remain in hiding until now.
Though the study was published in Chinese Archaeology, unless you can read Chinese, you won’t be able to access the actual study. Instead, check out the English summary.
Prehistoric Site Hamin Mangha Holds Clues to Mass Grave of Human Bodies
The recent study revealed 29 houses made in a simple design of a solitary room, but the most interesting house was “F40” or the house of horrors containing the mass grave of human bodies.
It appears that F40 had a particular scheme of body arrangement as the archaeologists noted that in the northwest, the remains were complete skeletons whereas in the east, the remains were mostly skulls with missing limbs. Even more chilling is that in the south, the limbs had been thrown into piles up to three layers deep.
Researchers working on the excavation have come from the Inner Mongolian Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology as well as Jilin University’s Research Center for Chinese Frontier Archaeology.
Though the archaeologists didn’t mention the other houses as much, they did mention F40 had burned down at some point, charring and deforming many of the skulls and limbs.
Eerie Similarities in Other Mass Graves in China
Interestingly enough, the victims at Hamin Mangha were very close in age to victims found in another mass grave in a separate village, called Miaozigou. Both villages were in northeast China.
The team concluded that Hamin Mangha remains most likely succumbed to an epidemic that swept through northeast China with a vicious speed. This theory of a fast-spreading infectious illness would also account for the mass burial victims at Miaozigou as well.
Whether the scientists will investigate the possible prehistoric illness or not, the stack of human bodies found in China after over 5,000 years in waiting is a bone-chilling, yet exciting discovery for Chinese archaeologists and anthropologists.
