By George Hamilton.
Experts now believe a dozen skeletons discovered in a mass grave in the centre of Oxford may have belonged to executed criminals from Saxon times.
A team of three archaeologists have been digging in the quadrangle of St John's College in Blackhall Road, off St Giles, for almost two weeks since the discovery was made.
The bones of 12 or 13 bodies have gradually been uncovered after a body part was discovered 80cm below ground level by diggers excavating the plot before a new quadrangle is built.
City archaeologists have labelled the find the most exciting in Oxford for nearly half a century, and predict more bodies could be found in the area.
But they cannot date the corpses exactly because the bodies were stripped of clothing before they were thrown into the mass grave.
Sean Wallis, project manager for Thames Valley Archaeological Services, said: "We were expecting to find evidence of Medieval activity, but we did not picture to find any bodies.
"I don't think anybody expected that.
"They look as if they were all young men in their late teens, and we are looking at Saxon times.
"We originally thought they could be Roman but now we think it could be more recent, based on the condition of the bodies, which survived very well.
"We have no idea how many we will find - they are still popping up."
The archaeologists' job has been made more difficult by the fact the bodies have been thrown on top of one another, rather than laid out neatly like a Christian burial.
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