Mystery Bottle Of Liquid Found Between Skeleton's Legs

Archaeologists have come across a bottle full of a mysterious liquid positioned between the legs of a skeleton.

The bizarre brown-coloured contents is inside a blue glass bottle which is marked 'Hull Infirmary' and seems to have been deliberately placed with the bones of a woman who died in her 60s.

The grave discovery happened at the former Trinity burial ground in Hull where a team of 70 experts are working on the proposed £355 million A63 improvement scheme to create a new junction in a bid to minimise congestion.

It is believed the team will be examining around 1,500 exhumed skeletons which were buried between 1783 and 1861.

Highways England

Speaking about the sealed bottle, osteology supervisor Katie Dalmon told Hull Daily Mail: "It's quite normal to find artefacts such as rings, coins, items of clothing and even tableware such as plates in a burial plot but this bottle was quite unusual.

"Not only was it apparently specifically placed between the person's legs but it was also sealed and was nearly full of liquid.

"We now know a little bit more about the identity of the body - it's a woman who was in her 60s at the time of death. We also know she was suffering from residual rickets and osteoporosis.

"She was also buried in the middle of a burial stack with the bottle. It was deliberately placed with the individual and was not part of any backfill."

Highways England

Experts from Nottingham Trent University took samples from the bottle and have been carrying out high-tech analyses.

Speaking about their findings, Katie went on to add: "The tests have confirmed the presence of sodium, potassium and phosphorus and have also discounted any pharmaceutical materials being present.

"The results leave us with the likelihood that the liquid is probably urine but they also raise a whole series of other questions.

"What could this mean? Why was it placed there and, if it's not urine, what could it be?"

Another theory is that it could be a phosphate-based tonic drink. Katie said: "These were popular in the 19th century when they were advertised as a cure for various medical ailments, including tuberculosis.

"We can't be exactly sure at the moment so we are carrying out more tests to try to get an definitive answer."

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Rebecca Shepherd

I'm Becky - a journalist at LADbible. I graduated with a First Class BA in Journalism before going on to cover criminal court cases, medical tribunals and breaking news for the national media - which inevitably and eventually became as glum as it sounds. Can often be found rocking a bag for life - which I made a 'thing' way before Rihanna. You can contact me at [email protected]

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