Archaeologists are scratching their heads over the 1,000-year-old remains of a woman, buried next to her husband, with her face and head hollowed out.
The curious couple had been unearthed in the former royal palace of Helfta in Eisleben, in the German state of Saxony, according to the Daily Mail.
The alleged bride, who stood at five feet, was lying next to her slightly bigger husband.
It’s not yet clear how or when they died, however most peculiar was the fact that the wife was missing all the bones in her face while her husband’s countenance was still intact.
Unfortunately, as of yet, the reason for the bride’s literal loss of face remains a mystery.
Archaeologists are currently examining the remains at the lab to try and crack this 1,000-year-old cold case file.
Experts did deduce that the pair were of noble blood due to the “royal accouterment” in the husband’s possession.
“Among other things, they found a knife, a belt set and the fittings for a so-called official staff, such as those carried by generals, on him,” archaeologist Felix Biermann from the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology told the German newspaper Bild, per the Daily Mail.
His other half, meanwhile, was interred sans possessions — a phenomenon that Biermann deemed quite “unusual” for a noblewoman.
His only theory was that she and her grave-mate were ancient adherents to Christianity, which traditionally shunned being buried with baubles. However, this wouldn’t explain why the husband’s corpse was so ornately adorned.
