Human Osteology

Archaeological investigations between 2012 and 2015 at RNAS Yeovilton uncovered evidence of Late Prehistoric and Romano-British agricultural activity.
An extensive Romano-British field system, found across all three excavation areas, is associated with a previously identified farmstead to the north. The farmstead and field system were aligned with a trackway that linked the settlement with the Roman road to Ilchester; a ditch pertaining to this was recorded during the excavations.
Two late Romano-British inhumation burials and several pits, some containing large quantities of pottery and charred plant remains, were also present in the area adjacent to the farmstead. Less well-preserved gullies defining fields or paddocks are tentatively dated to the Bronze Age; and a four-post granary structure was dated to the early Middle Iron Age and is likely associated with a contemporary settlement known to the east.

Archaeological works at Steart Point peninsula, near Bridgwater, have recovered evidence for the exploitation and settlement of the peninsula from the prehistoric period onwards. The results overall fit broad regional patterns of wetland environments in Southern Britain, where phases of land reclamation and climatic amelioration have been key factors in the successful exploitation, occupation and development of these landscapes. These phases of reclamation are strongly linked to the prevailing patterns of associated sea level increases which periodically made coastal wetland landscapes less favourable habitats, the most recent examples occurring in the late Roman to early medieval and late medieval to early post-medieval periods.
A number of significant sites and areas of past human activity and inhabitation from the Iron Age, the Romano-British period, the medieval and early post-medieval periods have been recorded. The results follow broad regional patterns seen in the Severn Estuary Levels, with the more regularly planned farming landscapes and permanent settlement evidence from the Romano-British period onwards, developing from seasonal, episodic exploitation of this resource-rich salt-marsh landscape. It has also highlighted extensive continuities within the Steart Point landscape of land divisions and drainage patterns which have their inception at least as far back as the early medieval period and possibly the Romano-British period.

Archaeological excavation during the construction of a new supply line for the electrification of the Great Western Railway Main Line, uncovered part of a large, previously unknown, Romano-British settlement along the main road between the Roman towns of Aquae Sulis and Cunetio. The full extent of the settlement is unknown but evidence from metal detector finds and field names suggests that it may have extended for at least 0.9 km along the Roman road.
The Romano-British settlement appears to have been established in the mid-/late 1st century AD, and was continually occupied until the end of the 4th century. The settlement contained roads, buildings of stone and timber construction, a crop drier, wells, pits, human and animal burials, agricultural enclosures and evidence for metalworking, but was most notable for its large number of cooking ovens.
The ceramic and metal finds are indicative of a highly Romanized settlement, whist the animal bone assemblage and plant remains suggest that the provision of food – particularly roast pork and bread – was an important part of the settlement’s economy. The discovery of a pair of small stone altars provide evidence for a roadside shrine.

The remains of an extended, supine burial were found protruding from a cliff-face at Cwn Nash. Several similar findspots and an excavation have indicated the presence of an early Post-medieval cemetery within the vicinity, and the remains are considered to be of a commensurate date.
NB: the photographs in this report were NOT prepared by, or taken by the Osteoarchaeologist

Excavations at the Old Dairy, Amesbury, Wiltshire, revealed three previously unknown ring-ditches of Early Bronze Age and possible Neolithic dates, a scatter of Neolithic pits, a pit containing dolerite-tempered pottery of probably Middle Bronze Age date and a Final-Phase (7th-8th century) Anglo-Saxon cemetery

An excavation southeast of Salisbury revealed burials of Early and Middle Bronze Age, and Early Iron Age date representing a number of mortuary traditions. All the burials were radiocarbon dated. The earliest involved the unaccompanied inhumation of bones from more than one individual, a practice characteristic of some Beaker-period burials. Two adjacent pits, at a distance from this grave, contained Beaker pottery and other finds, and appear to be of a similar date to the early grave. A plough-levelled round barrow, dated towards the end of the Early Bronze Age, appears to have had a cremation burial with a Collared Urn near its centre, and to have later become the focus for a group of Middle Bronze Age inhumation burials. Subsequently, a small Early Iron Age inhumation cemetery was established on the edge of an area of possibly contemporary settlement, comprising clustered quarry pits and post-built structures, features also found in the Early Iron Age settlement enclosure of Little Woodbury just 200m upslope. Later features on the site relate to Romano-British and medieval/post-medieval land division.

I våra arkeologiska magasin förvaras fynd från äldre arkeologiska undersökningar. Det kan vara fyndplatser från äldsta tider till nutid där bara några enstaka föremål eller gårdar och gravar visar att människor vistats där. Det är lätt att arkeologiska utgrävningar blir bortglömda om de har ett litet material och att de blir därmed okända för de människor som idag bor där arkeologer en gång grävde. De gamla grävningarna kan förbli osynliga också i den arkeologiska forskningen. I den här artikeln skall vi belysa några sådana platser i Kullabygden.

Re-excavations of forgotten archaeological material are more relevant than ever. What is not ordered published or digitized risks to become invisible in storages and archaeological research. With new investigations of archaeological contexts and osteological material the article updates our knowledge of Late Bronze Age burials in North-Western Skåne, Sweden

In 2017, 3 Maja Street in Rzeszów underwent reconstruction. This work resulted in archaeological research carried out by the Foundation for Archaeological Centre in Rzeszów. Considering conducted discoveries, the skeleton cemetery at the parish church takes an important place. On its edge, 39 graves were discovered, with remains of individuals of different age, adults and children. What is more, numerous loose bones, randomly distributed among the skeletons were also found. At the church of the Holy Cross, three human burials uncovered. The bones underwent anthropological analysis, including the determination of number of buried individuals, their age, sex, and their general biological condition.

Key words: cemetery, skeleton, anthropology, Modern period, Rzeszów

"Neuzeitliches Skelettgräberfeld aus der Umgebung der Pfarrkirche in Rzeszów – erste Ergebnisse anthropologischer Forschung"

Zusammenfassung:
Auf dem erforschten Teil des neuzeitlichen Gräberfeldes auf dem Pfarrkirchenplatz (Plac Farny) in Rzeszów wurden 39 Gräber entdeckt. Alle dort freigelegten menschlichen Überreste konnten sogar 72 Individuen zugeordnet werden. Zahlreiche
Knochen wurden als lose Funde betrachtet und man kann nicht eindeutig feststellen, von wie vielen Individuen sie stammten. Die Gräber 31 und 36 stellten Knochenansammlungen dar, wobei jede von ihnen ca. 7 Verstorbene beinhaltete.
Sie wurden in den Gesamtanalysen nicht berücksichtigt. Die anthropologischen Untersuchungen wiesen auf, dass der Anteil der Kinder und Jugendlichen 56,90%, der Erwachsenen 41,38% betrug. Im Falle einer Person wurde das Alter nicht bestimmt (1,72%). Viele der verstorbenen Kinder waren jünger als 2 Jahre, zwei von ihnen waren vermutlich noch vor der Geburt tot (Fehlgeburten?). Der Prozentsatz der Todesfälle
im Bereich der Erwachsenen war in den einzelnen Altersklassen vergleichbar (für 7 erwachsene Individuen wurde das Alter nicht präzisieret). Das Geschlecht wurde für 21 Personen bestimmt (36,21%):10 weibliche, 11 männliche Individuen, darunter Kinder/Jugendliche. Es wurden kraniale Indexe gerechnet. Die Körpergröße der erstorbenen Individuen wich nicht von der durchschnittlichen Körpergröße der Bevölkerung Polens in der Neuzeit ab. Die auf den Tomogrammen sichtbare Schmelzhypoplasie und die Harris-Linien auf den Langknochen der Extremitäten zeugen von den Entwicklungsschwankungen, vielleicht infolge des Nahrungsmangels. Im Falle einiger Individuen stellte man Spuren von cribra orbitalia fest, was auf physiologischen Stress zurückzuführen ist. Bei vielen Individuen wurden kranke Zähne festgestellt; die Skelette mancher erwachsenen Individuen wiesen degenerativproduktive Veränderungen auf, die man in erster Linie auf das Alter zurückfuhren soll. Eine Person litt an einer heute nicht näher bestimmten Beschwerde, die sich als eine Deformation des rechten Fußes manifestierte. Festgestellt wurden auch einige während des Lebens der Verstorbenen entstandenen Verletzungen im Bereich des Brustkorbes (Rippen) und der oberen und unteren Extremitäten (geheilt und nicht geheilt).

This report examines the human skeletal material excavated from the Elizabeth Castle islet in March 2014 when an outside wall came down in bad weather and exposed human bones in the ground underneath. The demographic shows a young adult population, with increased levels of physical stress, some infectious disease and one case of surgical amputation. It is concluded that these bones are from an unknown cemetery connected to the military hospital that was built on the islet in the early C19th.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0967033518819417
Biancolillo, A., Tomassetti, M., Bucci, R., Izzo, S., Candilio, F., Marini, F. (2018). Ancient human bones studied and compared by near infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry and chemometrics.
Journal of Near Infrared Spectroscopy, 27(1):6-14.
doi: 10.1177/0967033518819417.

Paper presented at the Bog Body Research Network Workshop, 14-15 March 2019, hosted by Dr. Julia Farley and Dr. Daniel Antoine, British Museum, at the BM, London. Data based on current PhD research conducted at the University of Manchester (2016 - 2019).