The man in the parcel: explaining a puzzling burial rite

The sight that greeted Annika Konsmar during the excavation of a sarcophagus in Gårdby Church on the Swedish island of Öland made a lasting impression. In front of the archaeologist lay the skeleton of a man, with his mouth open and a length of rope looped around his head so that it formed a cross over his face. This cord continued down the body, allowing it to be bound around the ankles of the deceased. The rope was not the only element associated with the skeleton. Pieces of a dry organic material lay among the bones, but what did these fragments come from? Could they be dried and waxed linen fabric, or some sort of leather? The possibility that they were remains of the corpse itself