Pictures: Mysterious Viking-era Graves Found With Treasure

Who Was the Young Warrior? Photograph courtesy S. Gronek Sword at his side, the so-called Young Warrior (left) is among the thousand-year-old discoveries in a newfound cemetery in Poland, a new study says. The burial ground holds not only a hoard of precious objects but also hints of human sacrifice—and several dozen graves of a mysterious people with links to both the Vikings and the rulers of the founding states of eastern Europe. (Related: "'Thor's Hammer' Found in Viking Grave.") Researchers are especially intrigued by the Young Warrior, who died a violent death in his 20s. The man's jaw is fractured, his skull laced with cut marks. The sword provides further evidence of a martial life. Objects in the warrior's grave suggest he had ties to one of the region's earliest Slavic monarchs, said the project leader Andrzej Buko, head of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology at the Polish Academy of Sciences. But the north-south orientation of the man's body is a Scandinavian custom. Slavic graves were oriented east-west, Buko says. Buried just below the Young Warrior—probably at the same time, Buko said—is a woman in her early 20s who may have met a similarly violent end. Though evidence is scanty, Buko guesses she was killed to be buried with the man, "because it's very hard to suppose she died at the same moment as the warrior." Alongside the warrior is a second woman (right), also in her early 20s. The timing of her death is unclear. Archaeologists stumbled upon the cemetery, which dates to the late 10th and early 11th centuries, after surveying a highway-construction site near the village of Bodzia, roughly 90 miles (150 kilometers) northwest of Warsaw. The find is reported in this month's issue of the journal Antiquity. "The best discoveries are not planned, and so it was in this case," Buko said. "Among many other things, we discovered this marvelous cemetery." LINK —Traci Watson

THE UNDER SEA CEMETERY

“When you think of dead people, concrete and underwater, you might be forgiven if your mind produces images of mafia gangsters and of their victims swimming with the fishes. All that has changed – in the future what might spring to mind is a remarkable new underwater cemetery… The first of its kind on earth, the Neptune Memorial Reef takes the concept of a burial at sea to a new level. Forty five feet below the waves the cemetery follows a traditional pattern – it even has its own gates. You find plaques, statues, pathways and even benches on which the weary visitor can rest a while. The only difference to your average cemetery is that visitors will have to wear a wet suit to visit the final resting place of their nearest and dearest.” LINK

12 Weird Things to Do With Your Cremated Remains

Interred in a cemetery? Stored in a traditional urn? How old-fashioned! From being fired into space to crushed into diamonds, there’s few limits to what you can do with your cremated remains. If you’re going to go out, might as well go out in style.

Link, Via: Neatorama

I always said I wanted mine sprinkled on top of my Dads grave. But was told that I couldn't have that done because it was against the city ordinance. Time will tell.

Cemeteries surrounded by parking lots

Tullahassee Creek Indian Cemetery – Sand Springs, Oklahoma

Situated right between an ATM and a postal drop box, this Indian cemetery comprises about 1/4 acre of isolated turf in a parking lot outside Tulsa.

It was founded in 1883 and took less than a century to become the inadvertent centerpiece of a strip mall.

Link to a gallery of cemeteries in parking lots. LINK