The Forgotten Dead

What do a 7,200-year-old underwater cemetery and 17 miniature coffins hidden inside a Scottish volcano have in common? Both are archaeological mysteries that raise some very uncomfortable questions about what happens to us after we die. First, Jethro takes us beneath the Gulf of Mexico, where a Florida diver searching for prehistoric shark teeth accidentally discovered a human jawbone. What archaeologists uncovered next was extraordinary: an ancient Indigenous burial ground, complete with human remains and wooden stakes, preserved beneath the ocean for more than 7,000 years. How did an entire cemetery end up underwater, and what else might be hiding beneath Florida's coastline? Then Kat heads to Edinburgh, Scotland, where a group of boys hunting rabbits on Arthur's Seat in 1836 stumbled upon 17 tiny wooden coffins, each containing a carefully dressed miniature figure. Nearly two centuries later, their purpose remains unknown. Were they instruments of witchcraft, mysterious good-luck charms, or symbolic burials connected to the notorious Burke and Hare murders? Plus, a spirited debate about whether coconut crabs could have eaten Amelia Earhart, some deeply questionable Mountain Dew flavors, and a theory involving deceased shoemaker elves that probably deserves no further investigation. Ancient burial rituals, unsolved historical mysteries, strange archaeological discoveries, and the occasional giant crustacean. It's another wonderfully peculiar episode of The Box of Oddities. Keep flying that freak flag! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices