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A grim Viking Age burial pit discovered just outside Cambridge, England, is forcing archaeologists to rethink what happened at a major hillfort site more than 1,000 years ago. Among the dead is an “extremely tall” young man - around 6ft 5in (1.9m) - whose skull bears a healed hole from trepanation, an ancient procedure sometimes described as early brain surgery. The mix of complete bodies and dismembered parts, alongside signs of binding and beheading, has led researchers to suspect an episode of extreme violence, possibly an execution, rather than a straightforward battlefield burial, reports BBC News . Unraveling the Mystery of the Headless Vikings of Dorset History of the Vikings: All You Need to Know The Wandlebury “Execution Pit” and