Burial Site With Dozens of Skeletons Dating Back 1,300 Years Discovered

An ancient graveyard filled with the dead has been uncovered, dating back over 1,300 years.

The cemetery, comprised of 80 graves, was found near Lac du Bourget in the administrative region—or department—of Savoie, France, around 60 miles east of Lyon, by the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP).

This cemetery thought to date to the Merovingian period of the 7th century AD, marks the largest and most important graveyard that has been excavated in the Savoie department. The Merovingian dynasty ruled the Franks from the mid-5th century until 751, with King Clovis I converting to Christianity in around the year 500 AD.

The archaeologists found that the skeletal remains inside the graves all faced eastwards. This is thought to be part of a Christian rite of burying the dead facing towards Jerusalem and is a move away from the act of burying multiple people in the same grave, as had occurred in necropolises throughout the many years beforehand.

"You can see that the humeri are slightly raised and oriented inwards," Jean-Luc Gisclon, archaeologist and anthropologist at INRAP, told local news station France 3 Alpes, translated from French. "There was certainly a wooden wall that kept the deceased in a situation of unstable equilibrium."

A video of the cemetery excavation site was shared on social media by the French newspaper Le Dauphiné Libéré, showing the skeletons inside the ground.

The archaeologists also found that the skeletons had been buried with very few belongings, even without much clothing, leading them to suggest that the dead had been stripped before their burials.

"We have a few items of clothing, a few ornaments, but it is really insignificant compared to the number of burials [discovered]," Julien Blanco, another archaeologist and anthropologist at INRAP, told France 3 Alpes.

"This makes it difficult to identify the social classes of the deceased," Blanco said. "Whether rich or poor, young or old, they are stripped in the face of death."

This discovery comes only a few weeks after an ancient sword from the 15th century was uncovered in Amiens, France, in "outstanding condition." The 38-inch sword was found in a humid, peat ditch, contributing to its condition, and also allowing for the preservation of wood and leather from the sword's handle and sheath.

At the graveyard in Savoie, INRAP archeologists hope to investigate the site further and use their findings to flesh out their knowledge of the ancient people of the area, including their beliefs and daily lives.

Do you have a science story to share with Newsweek? Do you have a question about ancient graveyards? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.