Children find ancient skeleton near school’s playground

DIJON, France (WKRC) — A group of children in France made a remarkable discovery this month after a skeleton believed to date back thousands of years was unearthed near their school’s playground.

The skeleton was found in a circular pit near the Josephine Baker primary school in Dijon. It is the fifth skeleton discovered in the area in March alone, all of which were found in seated positions, facing westward and with their hands resting in their laps, according to a press release from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) in France.

Archaeologists aren’t sure why the skeletons are in such a unique position.

“This seated position is atypical,” Annamaria Latron, an archaeo-anthropologist, told French newspaper Le Monde. “We are more used to burials of reclining individuals, in general, on their backs, with the lower limbs extended and not bent like this.”

The skeletons are believed to have belonged to the Gauls, a group of Celtic tribes that lived throughout Western Europe between the Iron Age and the Roman period, or between about the 5th century B.C. and 5th century A.D. In 2025, 13 other skeletons were found in the same region, says INRAP.