Nov 20, 2018
Skeleton of a 10-year-old discovered at the Necropoli dei Bambini di Lugnano. The child was buried there during the 5th century AD, with a stone placed in its mouth.
During the mid-400s AD, the region of Umbria (central Italy) suffered from a deadly malaria outbreak that killed many babies and small children. The stone was probably placed in the skeleton's mouth to prevent it from rising again after death; a 3-year-old girl was also buried in this cemetery with stones weighing down her hands and feet for the same reason.
