I AM inclined to agree with K Barnes that decapitated remains are often ascribed to human sacrifice without much in the way of real evidence ('Roman skull-thuggery to blacken name of enemies', Letters, March 1). But the King Lucius/ Lleur Mawr story has to be approached with caution.

It is now generally agreed that Bede's account of the king's conversion derived from confused foreign sources which, in turn, had substituted our King Lucius for Prince Lucius of Edessa, once known as "Britio Edessenorum", easily confused with "Britannia".

If, on the other hand, these skeletons are indeed the remains of executed Christians then they had the dubious honour of anticipating the death of British proto-martyr St Alban by a quarter of a century.

JE Muldowney

Second Avenue,

Heworth, York.

Updated: 09:51 Thursday, March 03, 2005