A team of undergraduate archaeology students uncovered a burial pit from the 9th century, during a training dig with the Cambridge Archaeological Unit and the charity Cambridge Past, Present and Future.

The team uncovered the remains of at least ten skeletons, including four whole skeletons and other partial remains such as skulls and legs. These remains are speculated to be of Viking or Saxon origin.

Some skeletons appeared to have been tied up, and archaeologists speculate that the remains were of young men, possibly buried following a mass execution or battle.

Dr Oscar Aldred, a senior project officer at the Department of Archaeology, has suggested that “those buried could have been recipients of corporal punishment, and that may be connected to Wandlebury as a sacred or well-known meeting place”.

Aldred added that the pit may be related to Cambridgeshire’s significance as a “frontier zone” between Saxons and Vikings, famously serving as the site of many battles between the two over territory.

Among the remains, the team identified one unusually tall skeleton, measuring 6’5”. The average male height at the projected period of the burial was 5’6”.

Dr Trish Biers, curator of the Duckworth Collections, osteologist and paleopathologist at the Department of Archaeology, weighed in on this mystery, saying: “the individual may have had a tumour that affected their pituitary gland and caused an excess of growth hormones.” A hole, 3m in diameter on the man’s skull, suggests an attempted surgical procedure to alleviate headaches associated with the potential condition.

Olivia Courtney, a third-year archaeology student on the dig, has said: “I had never encountered human remains on a dig, and I was struck by how close yet distant these people felt … we were separated by only a few years in age, but over a thousand years in time.”

Fellow archaeology undergraduate Grace Grandfield also remarked on her experience, saying: “I would never have expected to find something like this…it was a shocking contrast to the peaceful site of Wandlebury.”

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Grandfield said: “I don’t think anything we learned about the realities of human remains or archaeology could have prepared you for […] putting together the pieces of this really gruesome puzzle.”

The Cambridge Archaeological Unit will continue to analyse the remains, especially their health and ancestry, to understand the skeleton’s specific origins, and uncover the number of individuals placed in the burial pit.