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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Ancient Apocalypse - Ancient types sacrificing and eating children? Really?

103 replies

likelysuspect · 22/04/2026 21:08

Ive just started watching a series on Iplayer about the downfall of various ancient civilisations and only halfway through the series to find each one seems to end or have some degree of cannabilism and child sacrifice of some degree

I mean I know its good drama and people love a bit of blood and gore but as I get older I find it harder to believe that these things happen.

AIBU to believe its a bit exaggerated, I mean how come we hear about it in very very very ancient civilisations but not really in later ones. I dont recall this about the Romans, ME peoples or the Chinese dynasties. (for example)

OP posts:
GarlicFind · Yesterday 18:46

ReleaseTheDucksOfWar · Yesterday 16:37

good lord @GarlicFind - did your latin books give any sources for this? Though honestly it doesn't seem unrealistic given other info.

@SerendipityJane you only have to look on this thread, two posts up from you! Very odd post.

Eye witness - one of MN's classicists will probably know who it was. His views on slavery reform were unpopular: he wasn't even against it, just disliked excessive abuse. He had an argument with his friend, the farm owner, while staying as a guest. It was a well-known 'truth' at the time that slaves and wives should be beaten every day.

ReleaseTheDucksOfWar · Yesterday 22:57

Not far removed from some medieval beliefs. I was shocked when the Spitalfields famine / plague pits were excavated for the Rail link. Because it was a mass death event, normal burial norms were suspended and people were just buried together.

The archeologists found that men had more fractures overall, but women's broken bones were 'far more likely to be' forearm fractures of the sort that only happen when you're holding your arm up to protect against blows. Some reports very specifically refused to draw conclusions about the sort of partnerships women endured! Others do suggest it

https://the-past.com/feature/spitalfields-cemetery-and-the-famine-of-1258/

London's volcanic winter: Spitalfields cemetery and the famine of 1258 | The Past

Mass graves were needed all too often in the Medieval world, but establishing the specific tragedy behind any given set is difficult. Now Don Walker believe ...

https://the-past.com/feature/spitalfields-cemetery-and-the-famine-of-1258

GarlicFind · Today 00:03

What an interesting article, @ReleaseTheDucksOfWar! The mega-eruption was in Lombok, conclusively determined the year after this article was published, in 2013.

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