Matthew 27:33

‘And they were come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, it was called, The place of a skull,'

Humanly speaking it was a coincidence that the place where Jesus died was called ‘the place of a Skull' (Kraniou topos). It may have been a name given because a skull had once been discovered there. The repetition of ‘was called' suggests that this is not just an interpretation but that it was called (or came to be called) this in both Aramaic as ‘Gulgalta' (where it simply means ‘Skull') and in Greek as ‘Kraniou topos' (‘place of a skull'). It certainly would be called this ever afterwards, even if not before this time. We cannot really doubt that there is the implication here that, in Christian eyes at least it was a place of death. A skull represented death and corruption. Thus here we have a further emphasis on the fact that Jesus has been brought to the place of death. Interestingly enough the skull and crossbones (indicating the whole self) would later come to indicate resurrection, but that was only because of what Jesus accomplished here.

The present site of Golgotha is unknown. The traditional site was determined over three hundred years later, and by then much had taken place since this had happened, including the destruction and rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the emptying of it of its inhabitants. It is unlikely therefore that the true site would have been remembered, especially as interest in such sites was not a phenomenon of the time, but would arise much later. The focus of the Apostles' generation was on the risen Christ. But the site would certainly have been on a rise near the road so that the public could observe quite clearly what happened to the opponents of Rome.