The discovery was important enough to find a place in the July 16th edition ofThe Scotsman, year 1836.
Indeed, witchery was the most immediate assumption.
Scotland, and Edinburgh in particular, have a dark history of witch trails.
Before long other newspapers picked up the story, concluding with their own interpretation of the coffins.
William Hare and William Burke.
Their eyes were also painted open, making it unlikely they were originally designed as corpses.
Of the seventeen original coffins, only eight survived and are at Edinburghs National Museum of Scotland.
The landscape around Arthurs Seat, whose peak can be seen on the right.
Photo credit:Mikko Muinonen/Flickr
