The remains of a medieval priest who died 700 years ago have been uncovered in an elaborate grave. Archaeologists from the University of Sheffield uncovered the rare find at Thornton Abbey in Lincolnshire, which was founded as a monastery in 1139 and went onto become one of the richest religious houses in England.
The 700 year old grave was found in Thornton Abbey, Lincolnshire [Credit: University of Sheffield]
The priest's gravestone was discovered close to the altar of a former hospital chapel. Unusually for the period, it displayed an inscription of the deceased's name, Richard de W'Peton -- abbreviated from 'Wispeton', a medieval incarnation of modern Wispington in Lincolnshire -- and his date of death, 17 April 1317.
The slab also contained an extract from the Bible, specifically Philippians 2:10, which reads; "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth."
The discovery of Richard's grave was made by University of Sheffield PhD student Emma Hook, who found his skeletal remains surrounded by the decayed fragments of a wooden coffin.
Examination and recording of the skeletal remains of Richard de W'Peton [Credit: University of Sheffield]
"After taking Richard's skeleton back to the laboratory, despite poor preservation, we were able to establish Richard was around 35-45 years-old at the time of his death and that he had stood around 5ft 4ins tall," said Emma.
"Although he ended his days in the priesthood, there is also some suggestion that he might have had humbler origins in more worldly work; his bones show the marks of robust muscle attachments, indicating that strenuous physical labour had been a regular part of his life at some stage.
"Nor had his childhood been easy; his teeth show distinctive lines known as dental enamel hypoplasia, indicating that his early years had been marked by a period of malnutrition or illness."
The coffin lid [Credit: University of Sheffield]
In order to further investigate Richard's health, researchers in the Department of Archaeology produced a 3D scan of his skull. The model produced enables detailed features of the skull to be seen with much more ease than with the naked eye.
This revealed a potentially violent episode in the priest's past: a slight depression in the back of his skull shows evidence of an extremely well-healed blunt force trauma suffered many years before Richard's death.
None of the investigations shed light on the cause of his demise at a relatively young age, however there is one possibility that researchers are exploring.
Dr Hugh Willmott from the University of Sheffield said it was very likely that the priest was held in extremely high regard [Credit: University of Sheffield]
Dr Hugh Willmott from the University of Sheffield's Department of Archaeology, who has been working on the excavation site at Thornton Abbey since 2011, said: "2017 marks not only the 700th anniversary of Richard's death, but also that of a catastrophic event that is now largely forgotten, but caused years of suffering for the whole of Europe: the Great Famine of 1315-1317.
"Triggered by a whole spring and summer of relentlessly heavy rain that caused widespread crop failures -- which vastly depleted the availability of grain for humans and hay or straw for animals -- this was a period of mass starvation.
"Although not on the same scale as the Black Death, which devastated Europe from 1346-1353 and which also left its mark at Thornton Abbey, these hungry times struck rich and poor alike, killing millions across the continent."
The priest's teeth show signs of malnutrition, which leads scientists to believe he may have died in the Great Famine [Credit: University of Sheffield]
He added: "By spring 1317, when Richard died, the crisis was at its peak and its events would undoubtedly have affected medieval hospitals like Thornton Abbey, and the priests who served there.
"These institutions traditionally cared for the poor and hungry as well as the sick, so during the Great Famine sites like Thornton would have found themselves on the front line. Richard would have ministered to the starving, working in the face of desperately limited resources -- and perhaps despite these efforts, he too succumbed to the natural disaster that was unfolding around him.
"For now, such a narrative can only be a matter of speculation, but it does seem clear that -- whatever caused his death -- at the end of his days Richard was held in high regard, afforded an elaborate burial in the most prestigious part of the hospital chapel, in the very place he would have spent his final years working among the poor and dying."
The skull showed a serious head injury which had healed [Credit: University of Sheffield]
This is the latest significant archaeological find at Thornton Abbey in Lincolnshire. Last year a mass burial of bodies, known to be victims of the Black Death, was discovered at the hospital. A total of 48 skeletons, many of which were children, were found by the excavation team including PhD and undergraduate archaeology students.
Intriguing new details have emerged about a medieval mummy known for her 'Adidas' boots - which she wore more than a millennia ago.
Scientists believe the body of a woman found in April last year, died up to 1,100 years ago from a blow to the head [Credit: The Mongolian Observer/The Center of Cultural Heritage of Mongolia/Siberian Times]
The body of the woman was discovered a year ago this week in the Altai mountains region of Mongolia.
And her body and possessions remained so remarkably preserved that experts are still uncovering some of the secrets they keep.
Now, scientists have discovered that the mummy suffered a significant blow to the head before her death.
Her trademark felt boots - which feature red and black stripes and metal buckle work - have been carefully cleaned and restored [Credit: The Mongolian Observer/The Center of Cultural Heritage of Mongolia/Siberian Times]
The Mongolian woman - aged between 30 and 40 - hit headlines in April 2016, thanks to her modern-looking footwear, which some likened to a pair of trainers.
In the intervening 12 months, scientists have been working to find out more about the mysterious Mongolian mummy.
Experts from the Centre of Cultural Heritage of Mongolia now believe the woman died up to 1,100 years ago after suffering a serious head wound.
The items of clothing found, like this jacket, were decorated with fine embroidery patterns [Credit: The Mongolian Observer/The Center of Cultural Heritage of Mongolia/Siberian Times]
Initial examinations found that 'it was quite possible that the traces of a blow to the mummy's facial bones were the cause of her death'.
They are still seeking to verify the exact age of the burial, but they estimate it took place in the tenth century - more recently than originally thought.
The high altitude and cold climate helped to preserve both the woman's body and her belongings.
Experts believe she may have been a seamstress, due to a variety of sewing equipment which was found inside her bag, as well as the embroidery on her clothing [Credit: The Mongolian Observer/The Center of Cultural Heritage of Mongolia/Siberian Times]
And a coating of Shilajit - a thick, sticky tar-like substance with a colour ranging from white to dark brown - that covered her body aided this process.
Some skin and hair can be seen on her remains, which were wrapped in felt.
The woman was buried alongside a number of her possessions - including a handbag and four changes of clothes.
Despite her seemingly lavish possessions archaeologists believe she was an 'ordinary' women of her time, rather than an aristocrat or royal [Credit: The Mongolian Observer/The Center of Cultural Heritage of Mongolia/Siberian Times]
A comb and a mirror from her beauty kit were also found, along with a knife.
Her horse and a saddle with metal stirrups in such good condition that it could be used today were buried as well.
But despite her seemingly lavish possessions archaeologists believe she was an 'ordinary' women of her time, rather than an aristocrat or royal.
The preserved remains of a horse were uncovered at the burial site [Credit: The Mongolian Observer/ The Center of Cultural Heritage of Mongolia/Siberian Times]
'Judging by what was found inside the burial, we guess that she was from an ordinary social strata,' added Mr Enkhbat.
'Various sewing utensils were found with her.
'This is only our guess, but we think she could have been a seamstress.'
A saddle with metal stirrups in such good condition that it could be used today were found alongside it [Credit: The Mongolian Observer/The Center of Cultural Heritage of Mongolia/Siberian Times]
'Inside (her bag) was the sewing kit and since the embroidery was on both the bag and the shoes, we can be certain that the embroidery was done by locals.'
The grave was unearthed at an altitude of 9,200ft (2,803 metres) and the woman is believed to be of Turkic origin.
It appears to be the first complete Turkic burial in Central Asia.
The Mongolian woman is believed to have been aged between 30 and 40 when she died. Some skin and hair can be seen on her remains, which were wrapped in felt [Credit: The Mongolian Observer/ The Center of Cultural Heritage of Mongolia/Siberian Times]
A host of possessions were found in the grave, offering a unique insight into life in medieval Mongolia.
These included a saddle, bridle, clay vase, wooden bowl, trough, iron kettle, the remains of an entire horse, and ancient clothing.
There were also pillows, a sheep's head and felt travel bag in which were placed the whole back of a sheep, goat bones and small leather bag designed to carry a cup.
Experts from the Centre of Cultural Heritage of Mongolia have worked for the past 12 months to restore the items they found buried [Credit: The Mongolian Observer/ The Center of Cultural Heritage of Mongolia/Siberian Times]
Archaeologists from the city museum in Khovd were alerted to the burial site by local herdsmen.
The Altai Mountains - where the burial was discovered - unite Siberia, in Russia, and Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan.
Author: Will Stewart | Source: DailyMail [April 13, 2017]
The discovery in 2015 that theremains of the teenage Egtved Girl discovered in Denmark were not in fact Danish caused an outcry. Partly because this Danish Bronze Age icon turned out not to be Danish after all, and partly because she demonstrated that Bronze Age people travelled far and wide—including women. And the discovery raised one important question: were there others like her?
Skrydstrup Woman was discovered in Denmark in 1935. She is one of the best preserved Bronze Age bodies in Denmark, alongside Egtved Girl, who was discovered close by. Both women are now known to have travelled across Europe to reach Denmark [Credit: The National Museum of Denmark]
Archaeological scientists from the National Museum of Denmark can now say, yes, there were. They have discovered that a woman who was buried in Skrydstrup, southern Jutland in west Denmark, around 1300 to 1200 BCE, was not Danish.
Analyses suggest that she could have come from south Germany, France, Sweden, or The Czech Republic, and researchers are now trying to pinpoint her exact origins to see just how far she may have travelled.
It opens up for a new understanding of the European Bronze Age, says Professor Karin Frei from The National Museum of Denmark who is behind the discovery.
“We can’t say with 100 per cent certainty where she came from, and we may never be able to, but she definitely wasn’t Danish. It gives us so many new perspectives. Now we know that Egtved Girl was not an isolated case,” says Frei.
Similarities with Egtved Girl
Egtved Girl and Skrydstrup Woman lived at approximately the same time period and both died at a young age--16 to 18 years. They were both buried in oak coffins under a burial mound, which was an elite way to be buried. And they were both foreigners. But this is where the similarities end.
Egtved Girl's grave, from 1370 BC [Credit: The National Museum of Denmark]
Egtved Girl was a frequent traveller in her later years, and only spent a short period of her life at Egtved--probably only a few months--where she died. But Skrydstrup Woman made just one long journey before she died and was buried in what is now Denmark.
It is now clear that she came to Skrydstrup at the age of around 13 or 14, which was considered a marriageable age for girls, and that she lived here until she died. Unlike Egtved Girl, there is nothing in the analyses of her hair, teeth, or nails that suggests she suffered from a prolonged period of illness or malnutrition.
She was buried in the centre of a burial mound. Two men, whose relation to her is not yet known, were found buried on the side of the same mound. All of this points to a woman of great importance.
Skrydstrup Woman was an elegant queen-like figure
Alive, Skrydstrup Woman would have been striking. She was approximately ten centimetres taller that most other women with long, thick hair tied up in an intricate fashionable style, which would have added a further ten centimetres to her already impressive height.
Skrydstrup Woman was buried in an oak-coffin, which helped to preserve her remains [Credit: The National Museum of Denmark]
She dressed in beautifully embroidered clothes, with big gold earrings draped over each ear. She had long, sleek limbs, and would have wanted for nothing her entire life.
“I see a very elegant woman. A queen-like figure. I’ve no doubt that when she came in through the door, people thought “wow”,” says Frei.
Srontium reveals our origins
Frei is world-renowned for developing an analytical method to measure the ratio of strontium in a person’s hair and nails, or textiles. She has now applied the method to Skrydstrup Woman.
Recreation of Skrydstrup woman's hairstyle [Credit: Oldtidsllimt/Museum Sønderjylland]
Strontium is found naturally in soils and water, and enters the food chain via plants, the animals that eat them, and so on, until it ends up in people. The composition of the different types of strontium—so-called isotopes—contained in an individual’s teeth, nails, and hair, is directly related to the soils, plants and animals, where they live.
By analysing the strontium isotopic composition of an individual and comparing that with known compositions for different parts of the world, scientists can decipher where an individual may have came from and lived throughout their life.
Archaeologists already knew quite a lot about Skrydstrup Woman’s life.The area where she was buried is known to have been a centre of wealth, due to the large number of Bronze Age burial mounds and impressive long-houses that have been excavated in the area. Lots of bronze and gold have also been found in the area.
A reconstruction of how Skrydstrup woman's impressive house may have been decorated [Credit: Oldtidsllimt/Museum Sønderjylland]
Close to where Skrydstrup Woman was buried, archaeologists have discovered two large long-houses. One of which is the largest known “three-aisled” houses from the early Bronze Age—it was 500 square metres in size.
Archaeologists had thought that Skrydstrup Woman’s grandparents or great-grandparents built the house, but the new results overturn that interpretation.
A young girl travelled to make an alliance
Skrydstrup Woman was originally discovered in 1935. The inner part of the mound, which was dedicated to her, was 13 metres in diameter, according to Museum Sønderjylland. It was later covered by a larger grave, in which two men were buried. The burial itself is an important part of Skrydstrup Woman’s story, says Frei.
A quick overview of Skrydstrup Woman and Egtved Girl: where they were discovered and where they
may have come from [Credit:ScienceNordic/Charlotte Price Persson/Mette Friis-Mikkelsen]
“Skrydstrup Woman travelled once and stayed in the Skrydstrup area the rest of her life. So perhaps she came to make an alliance. That could have been through marriage, but we don’t know. And we don’t know who the two men were. We can only tell that it was possible for women to travel and that people could integrate quickly into that society. Otherwise you wouldn’t have been buried in this way,” says Frei.
Skrydstrup Woman probably died of an infection
Analyses of Skrydstrup Woman’s bones reveal her age and sex, but also whether she had suffered from a period of prolonged illness, malnutrition, or stress.
Analyses of Skrydstrup Woman’s teeth and hair show that she only made one long journey during her life [Credit: Charlotte Price Persson]
“We haven’t found any signs of chronic disease. On the contrary, her bones indicate that she was probably a well-nourished girl,” says post-doc Marie Louise Jørkov, from the Department of Forensic Medicine at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, who conducted the analyses.
“In all probability she probably died of an infection: flu or some virus that did not show up in her skeleton. It would show up in the blood, which obviously isn’t preserved today,” says Jørkov.
Skrydstrup Woman’s bones are witness to her impressive height, which would have been around 170 centimetres tall, says Jørkov.
“The bones were very long, she was certainly a tall girl compared with her contemporaries. We don’t have many other finds, because people began cremating their dead not long after this. But we can see in corresponding discoveries for example from Borum Eshøj [another Bronze Age burial mound in Denmark] that they had shorter and more robust bones,” she says.
Part of a larger project investigating women's roles in Bronze Age societies
The results have been submitted to a scientific journal and will now go through a peer review before they are published. ScienceNordic will follow up with Frei and her colleagues progress.
In the meantime, the archaeologists will continue with the project Tales of Bronze Age Women, in which Frei and her colleagues are studying a number of well-preserved oak-coffins of Bronze Age women to investigate their role in Bronze Age society.
This approach is “fruitful” says archaeologist Professor Helle Vandkilde from Aarhus University, Denmark.
“Oak-coffins are such fantastically well-preserved source materials that make it possible to focus on each individual to an exceptional degree. This biographical perspective is especially new and exciting,” she says.
Vandkilde is not involved in the project herself and has not yet seen the unpublished results, but she is familiar with Frei’s work in general. While the precise interpretation of Skrydstrup Woman’s origins are not yet a done-deal, one thing is clear she says: both Egtved girl and Skrydstrup Woman have “definitely travelled.”
Frei is now planning to investigate some of the other well-preserved burials in Denmark.
Next on the list are the individuals buried at Borum Eshøj mound in Central Jutland, which contained the remains of an older woman, and two men. Only time will tell if this woman also travelled from far away.
“Suddenly, these women have a much larger role in this society, because they're outsiders with new knowledge and know-how that would have been of great value. I’m beginning to think that they had a greater importance than we have previously attributed to them. But all of that still remains to be seen,” says Frei.
Author: Charlotte Price Persson | Source: ScienceNordic [April 11, 2017]
Analysis of the bone remains in ancient Mesopotamia suggests that physical violence in the area was less common than suggested by historical sources, argues bioarchaeologist Dr. Arkadiusz Sołtysiak.
Skull with traces of healed trauma (the arrow) from Tell Majnuna, Syria, late Chalcolithic (c. 3,500 BC) [Credit: A. Sołtysiak]
Dr. Sołtysiak from the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, reviewed all publications concerning the burial grounds in Mesopotamia, the ancient land in the Middle East, located in the basin of the Tigris and Euphrates (mainly present territory of Iraq and Syria).
Analysed skeletons come from the period covering 10 thousand years, from the Neolithic, i.e. the introduction of agriculture - to the present day, the beginning of the 20th century.
The publications collected by Sołtysiak contain information on more than 1,200 skeletons. The scientist focused on descriptions of traces of healed skull injuries - injuries that did not directly lead to death. Traces of such injuries followed by recovery are much easier to identify than traces of a fatal injury (which are often very similar to the changes occurring after death, for example due to a specific funerary ritual or damage to the bones in the tomb).
"The incidence of such injuries in Mesopotamia is clearly lower than in other parts of the Middle East, and clearly decreases with the formation of the first states" - Arkadiusz Sołtysiak said in an interview with PAP. The scientist also found that most of the healed head injuries occured in the outskirts of Mesopotamia, with almost no such cases in the central part. Historically, the risk of skull injury for the average inhabitant of Mesopotamia was therefore low, significantly lower than in Armenia and the Levant, the scientist believes.
Map of Mesopotamia showing location of sites mentioned in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology paper [Credit: A. Sołtysiak]
This fact - according to the researcher - may be the result of the existence of a strong, centralized state authority. "The authorities were able to effectively minimize violence within a single state organism. The rulers had the right to administer justice, and ensured that any conflicts between the subjects would not lead to violence". suggested the bioarchaeologist.
"Many texts from ancient Mesopotamia contain colourful descriptions of wars and other physical atrocities, such as mass beheadings or stripping the skin. Meanwhile, bioarchaeology research paints the picture of a community, in which physical violence appeared to be rather uncommon", noted the researcher .
The number of cemeteries from the last 10 thousand years that had been studied and described by scientists, proved to be surprisingly small. To date, researchers have published data on the bone remains from only 25 cemeteries.
"This shows that the degree of development of bioarchaeology in Mesopotamia is quite low, especially when compared to Europe or North America", commented Sołtysiak. There are several reasons for this situation, the main one being that Syria and Iraq are politically unstable. "The work of archaeologists in these countries is often impossible due to armed conflicts", he added.
When early humans, including our species, ate their own kind it was more likely for ritual purposes than for a nourishing meal, according to an unusual study released Thursday.
Several clues help archaeologists identify cannibalism from the study of bones, such as the absence of the cranial base (to extract the brain) [Credit: Achim Scheidemann/DPA/AFP]
Carving up the human body to calculate the caloric value of each part, the study argues that prehistoric cannibalism -- while less rare than widely assumed -- was a dangerous undertaking offering relatively meagre nutritional rewards.
Kilo for kilo, a wild horse, bear or boar had more than three times the calories in fat and protein than our lean-and-mean human ancestors, who were mostly skin, muscle and bone, according to the research, published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Moreover, human prey -- as wily as the hunter -- would surely put up a good fight before being sliced up into filets.
"I did the study because I wanted to know how nutritional we are compared to these other animals," explained James Cole, a senior lecturer in archaeology at the University of Brighton in England.
Humans are much less nutritional than a boar or a pig [Credit: AFP]
"That might tell us whether we, and other human species, were doing it for the calories, or if there is some other explanation," he told AFP.
The findings help flesh out the idea that cannibalism among homo sapiens -- as well as Neanderthals, homo erectus and other hominins -- was suffused with cultural meaning.
Recent scholarship suggests our ancestors, including Neanderthals, had rich cultures, evidenced by artifacts, jewellery and perhaps language.
"It seems unreasonable to think that early humans wouldn't have had as complex an attitude to cannibalism as we modern humans," Cole said.
"They may have had as many reasons to consume each other as we do."
Archaeologists have put a face to the oldest human remains excavated from Thailand's northern highlands.
The facial approximation of Tham Lod woman, who lived about 13,600 years ago in Thailand's northern highlands [Credit: Hayes, Shoocongdej et al./Antiquity]
The remains of the woman, who lived about 13,600 years ago, were found in the Late Pleistocene Tham Lod rock shelter in north-west Thailand. The woman was between 25 and 35 years old and between 1.48 and 1.56 metres tall.
The age of her remains and the location they were found in suggest that she descended from the first humans to colonise South-East Asia. The findings are reported in the journal Antiquity.
The first approximation of the woman's face has now been created, using a global dataset of measurements of skulls, muscles, skin and other soft facial tissue from a large sample of the population across the world.
Estimating the face of a prehistoric human can be rife with pitfalls. Using data from a range of ethnicities in different countries and continents helps to make sure the impression of the face isn't biased towards one population, study author Susan Hayes of the University of Wollongong, Australia, told IBTimes UK.
The 'facial approximation' method uses facial soft tissue data from a global population to try to recreate the subject's appearance [Credit: Hayes, Shoocongdej et al./Antiquity]
Hayes used a method called "facial approximation", based on the analysis of soft tissues and skull measurements from an international sample population, rather than the popular method of "forensic facial reconstruction".
"Facial reconstruction fascinates people, and it attracts a lot of enthusiasm from both artists and scientists," Hayes said. "Unfortunately, some are scientists without any understanding of the technicalities of artistic depiction, others are artists without any understandings of the technicalities of science.
"The deceased deserve a bit better than this."
The resulting image is thought to give a good general impression of the woman's face, but is "unlikely to be a portrait likeness", Hayes said. This is because the data used for comparison are averaged over a large population. So if the Tham Lod rock shelter woman was entirely like the average person with her facial measurements, then the image would be a good likeness. But, Hayes notes, no one is average.
"But the average [image] is better, I think, than intuition, inspiration, self-portraiture, or doggedly sticking to relatively simple methods that are simply wrong."
A new scientific study of medieval human bones, excavated from a deserted English village, suggests the corpses they came from were burnt and mutilated. Researchers from the University of Southampton and Historic England believe this was carried out by villagers who believed that it would stop the corpses rising from their graves and menacing the living.
Knife marks on external surfaces of two rib bone fragments [Credit: Historic England]
The team found that many of the bones from Wharram Percy in North Yorkshire showed knife-marks – suggesting the bodies had been decapitated and dismembered. There was also evidence of the burning of body parts and deliberate breaking of some bones after death.
The findings are published in an article in the Journal of Archaeological Science Reports. The research was led by Simon Mays, Human Skeletal Biologist at Historic England, working in collaboration with Alistair Pike, Professor of Archaeological Sciences at the University of Southampton.
Right parietal from an adult cranium showing burn marks [Credit: Historic England]
In medieval times, there was a folk-belief that corpses could rise from their graves and roam the local area, spreading disease and violently assaulting those unlucky enough to encounter them. Restless corpses were usually thought to be caused by a lingering malevolent life-force in individuals who had committed evil deeds or created animosity when living.
Medieval writers describe a number of ways of dealing with revenants, one of which was to dig up the offending corpse, decapitate and dismember it, and burn the pieces in a fire. Perhaps the bones from Wharram Percy were parts of bodies that were mutilated and burnt because of medieval fears of corpses rising from their graves. The researchers considered other theories, but this explanation appears to be the most consistent with the alterations observed on the bones.
A mid-lower thoracic vertebra, showing two almost parallel knife cuts [Credit: Historic England]
In some societies, people may be treated in unusual ways after death because they are viewed as outsiders. However, analysis of strontium isotopes in the teeth showed this was not the reason in this case.
Professor Alistair Pike, who directed the isotopic analysis, explains: “Strontium isotopes in teeth reflect the geology on which an individual was living as their teeth formed in childhood. A match between the isotopes in the teeth and the geology around Wharram Percy suggests they grew up in an area close to where they were buried, possibly in the village. This was surprising to us, as we first wondered if the unusual treatment of the bodies might relate to their being from further afield, rather than local.”
The Wharram Percy Medieval village, North Yorkshire, UK [Credit: Historic England]
Famines were quite common in medieval times, so another possibility might be that the remains were of corpses that had been cannibalised by starving villagers. However, the evidence did not seem to fit. For example, in cannibalism, knife marks on bone tend to cluster around major muscle attachments or large joints, but at Wharram Percy the knife marks were not at these locations but mainly in the head and neck area.
Simon Mays concludes: “The idea that the Wharram Percy bones are the remains of corpses burnt and dismembered to stop them walking from their graves seems to fit the evidence best. If we are right, then this is the first good archaeological evidence we have for this practice. It shows us a dark side of medieval beliefs and provides a graphic reminder of how different the medieval view of the world was from our own.”
Artist's impression of Wharram Percy in the late 12th century [Credit: Peter Dunn/Historic England]
The bones come from the deserted medieval village of Wharram Percy, North Yorkshire, a site managed by English Heritage. There was a total of 137 bones representing the mixed remains of at least ten individuals. They were buried in a pit in the settlement part of the site. They date from the 11th-14th centuries AD.
