The Burials

During the course of our excavations, we were priviledged to discover the inhumation burials of six adolescents/adults and one neo-natal infant.  The remains were exhumed with the utmost care and treated with respect throughout the process.  Some readers may consider our attitude towards human remains to be overly sensitive but we do not feel it appropriate to publish images of them and have refrained from doing so here.  However, the data obtained from the individuals represented will be made available in the full excavation report and some of it is presented below.

We should like to acknowledge the generous assistance rendered by Philip A. Boocock and Charlotte A. Roberts of the Calvin Wells Laboratory in the Department of Archaeological Science at the University of Bradford.



Methods
The assessment of biological sex follows the methods outlined by White (1991), including those of Phenice (1969).  The assessment of age in the adult included changes at the pubic symphysis (Todd, 1920; Gilbert & McKern, 1973; Suchey-Brookes casts), sternal rib ends (Iscan et al, 1984, 1985) and dental attrition (Brothwell, 1981).  The assessment of adult stature follows trotter (1970).  Lists of non metric traits follow those outlined by Berry & Berry (1967) for the cranium and Finnegan (1978) for the post-cranial skeleton.  Metrical measurements follow Brothwell (ibid).  The state of preservation was calculated as follows: 0-30% = poor; 30-60% = fair; 60-80% = good, and 80%+ = excellent.