Archaeologists have been left mystified by the discovery of 36 decapitated bodies, it was revealed today.
Experts from the York Archaeological Trust unearthed the skeletons of 49 young men and seven children at a Roman cemetery they discovered in The Mount area of the city.
But they were stunned to find that most of the men had had their heads chopped off, while another was bound with iron shackles.
Dr Patrick Ottaway, the trust?s head of field word, said he was left baffled by the find because Romans had no tradition of decapitations or shackling men.