Bodies of Celts found in Switzerland may have been tsunami victims
The collapsed wooden bridge and skeletons of 20 people were found on the Zihl Canal in Cornaux in canton Neuchâtel in 1965.
Laténium – Archaeological Park and Museum, Neuchâtel
A new study of 2,000-year-old skeletons found in western Switzerland has concluded that their cause of death may have been a tsunami. But Swiss researchers do not rule out that the Celts discovered around 60 years ago were ritually executed.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Check out our selection of newsletters. Subscribe here.
By investigating the cause of death of the twenty people, researchers hope to gain new insights into Celtic culture in Switzerland and northern Italy, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) said on Monday.
Most of the written sources about the Celts come from Julius Caesar. “They are the stories of a military adversary, so they are not necessarily objective and complete,” explained Zita Laffranch from the University of Bern. She is the lead author of a study published on Monday in the journal Scientific Reports.
Tsunami or sacrificial ritual?
Since the discovery of a collapsed wooden bridge and 20 skeletons on the Zihl Canal in Cornaux, canton Neuchâtel in 1965, there has been controversy among experts as to how these people died. There are two theories: one is that an sudden flood or tsunami led to the collapse of the bridge; another is that the skeletons were ritually sacrificed.
The fact that the victims were mainly young men suggests that they could have been a group of sacrificed prisoners or slaves, say the researchers. But the well preserved state of the remains suggests that the bodies were quickly buried under sediment after they died. This is what would have happened in a tsunami. The way the bones and pieces of wood were distributed also suggests this theory.
According to the researchers, it is also possible that not all the deaths happened at the same time. Therefore, both theories could also be true.
Adapted from German by DeepL/dkk/sb
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
What do you think Switzerland’s Alain Berset can bring to the Council of Europe?
The former interior minister is to become the first Swiss Secretary General of the Council of Europe – which issues should his five-year term focus on?
How is your country dealing with the return of stolen artifacts?
Western nations like Switzerland often have to deal with the process of recovering or returning looted artifacts which have been illegally imported. What’s the situation like in your country?
Norwegian zombie film wins main prize at Swiss festival NIFFF
This content was published on
More than 55,000 people celebrated the fantastic film at the International Fantastic Film Festival in Neuchâtel (NIFFF) - fewer than last year.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.