Gristhorpe man: an early bronze age log-coffin burial scientifically defined.
Melton, Nigel ; Montgomery, Janet ; Knusel, Christopher J. 等
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
This paper is dedicated to the late Dr Paul Ashbee, author of the
classic 1960 volume 'The Bronze Age Round Barrow in Britain',
who took an active interest in this project. His attendance and support
at the Gristhorpe Man session at the BA Festival of Science in Norwich
in 2006 were greatly appreciated.
The Gristhorpe discovery and Early Bronze Age log-coffin burials in
Britain
In July 1834 William Beswick, the local landowner, and a group of
friends opened a barrow at Gristhorpe, just north of Filey, North
Yorkshire (Williamson 1896: 44). The barrow was the central and most
prominent in a group of three on the clifftop (Figure 1). They recovered
an intact log-coffin containing a flexed skeleton laid on its right
side, with the head to the south and facing east. Organic and inorganic
grave goods were recovered too and the complete skeleton, which was
stained black in the manner of a bog body, was conserved by simmering it
in a solution of glue. The skeleton was subsequently articulated and
wired together for display by local doctors William Harland and Thomas
Weddell (Scarborough Philosophical Society Minute Book for 1834; Harland
1932; K. Snowden pers. comm.). The finds were donated to the Scarborough
Museum where, except for a brief period in storage during the Second
World War, they have remained on display ever since (Figure 2).
William Crawford Williamson, the 17-year-old son of Scarborough
Museum curator John Williamson, swiftly published a report: Gristhorpe
Man was powerfully built, over 6ft tall and of advanced age, and a
Brigantian chief (Williamson 1834). The technique of phrenology, then in
vogue, was used to identify his personal qualities: combativeness,
destructiveness, firmness, perseverance and self-esteem, traits
necessary to fit him for 'high and important office' and to
'overawe a wild and uncivilized people' (Williamson 1834: 16).
The skull subsequently featured in Crania Britannica (Davis &
Thurman 1865).
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
Parallels between the Gristhorpe coffin and Danish log-coffins were
noted at the time of its discovery, and in 1836 the Gristhorpe coffin
was compared to the log-coffin found at Toppehoj, Bjolderup
(Rowley-Conwy 2007: 118), and illustrated alongside the Danish example
in Antiqvarisk Tidsskrift (reproduced in Jensen 1998: 40). The perceived
close connection with the Danish finds meant that when Thorns published
his English translation of Worsaae's The primeval antiquities of
Denmark in 1849, he did so in Worsaae's stated belief that the
'close connection which in old time existed between Denmark and the
British islands, renders it natural that British antiquaries should turn
to the antiquities of Denmark, and compare them with those of their own
countries' (Worsaae trans. 1849: iv). Thoms' translation of
Worsaae's 1843 work, which helped to make Thomsen's
'Three Age System' readily available in Britain, used as the
prime example of such comparisons the Gristhorpe coffin and its
contents, quoting Williamson's 1834 report in detail (Thorns,
Preface to Worsaae trans. 1849: xi-xix). The Three Age System itself was
developed in 1819, published in Danish in 1836 and translated into
English in 1848. This fundamental advance in understanding enabled
Williamson to revise his report 38 years later, assigning the coffin and
its contents to the Early Bronze Age and distinguishing them from
similar finds made in Denmark which he correctly identified as being of
later Bronze Age date (Williamson 1872).
[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]
The Gristhorpe log-coffin burial is one of 75 recorded in Britain
that range in date from the twenty-third to seventeenth centuries cal BC
(Parker Pearson et al. forthcoming). Although no certain example is
known from Ireland, they are found throughout Britain from Scotland to
the south coast and from East Anglia to Wales. Log-coffin burial was
also practised during the Early Bronze Age in The Netherlands, Germany
and Central Europe (Harding 2000: 105-107; Drenth & Lohof 2005:
439-40). Within Britain, three particular concentrations occur, in
Wessex, Yorkshire and eastern England (the East Midlands and East
Anglia). Intriguingly, large expanses within two if not all three of
these regions were substantially lacking in mature woodland by the Early
Bronze Age (French 2003; French et al. 2007), so the distribution of
log-coffin burials does not necessarily reflect availability of supplies
of suitable timber.
Gristhorpe is one of three Bronze Age log-coffins in Britain to
have survived intact to the present day, the two others being from
Disgwylfa Fawr, near Ponterwyd, Ceredigion (Savory 1980: 22). Many
log-coffins were found intact upon discovery but have subsequently
perished or survive just as fragments. These include the coffins from
Hove, Sussex (Phillips 1856); Stoborough, Dorset (Hutchins 1767);
Cairngall, Dalrigh and Dumglow, Scotland (Mowat 1996: 83, 85,102-3; D.
Bertiepers. comm.); Loose Howe (Elgee & Elgee 1949) and Rylstone
(Greenwell 1877: 375-7), North Yorkshire; and two from Winterbourne
Stoke, Wiltshire (Colt Hoare 1812:122-4). One of the latter two was
reported to be of elm, but the others appear to have been of oak.
Most log-coffins have been recorded as soil stains recognisable
only through careful excavation. It can be difficult to differentiate
between plank-built coffins and log-coffins in such circumstances
(Petersen 1969). The former are known from the fourth millennium BC
onwards, whereas the earliest log-coffins for single graves appear as an
innovation in the climax Beaker period (Period 2, Needham 2005),
although the predominant ceramic associations are Food Vessels.
Log-coffins were clearly in their heyday after 2000 cal BC.
A good case can be made that even those log-coffins without
observable grave goods were probably the gaves of individuals of some
distinction. Symbolic associations with woodland and occasionally with
boats can be identified on the basis of material, shape and, in cases
such as Gristhorpe, the grave's location overlooking the sea. Some
individuals may have had specialist ties to woodland with status roles
connected to forestry and hunting, while others may have had
associations with the maritime interaction networks that were becoming
such a major social force during the Early Bronze Age (Frank 1993;
Kristiansen & Larsson 2005; Needham 2009).
Our re-examination of Gristhorpe Man reported here included the
analysis of the skeleton and grave goods, using modern techniques for
dating, diet and provenance. The original barrow and its
nineteenth-century excavation were also located using geophysical
methods and confirmed by test excavation. The results suggest a new
context for the burial and the use of log-coffins on the British side of
the North Sea.
'Gristhorpe Man': an osteobiography
Gristhorpe Man was a physically active male who had attained the
prime of life, being at least 36 to 45 years and probably much older at
the time of his death (following the methods of Brothwell 1981; Meindl
& Lovejoy 1985; Iscan & Loth 1986). This is an assessment
strengthened by the extent of age-related infra-cranial enthesial
modification and the presence of ossified tracheal cartilage rings that
Williamson had misidentified (as a broken horn ring possibly used for
fastening a light scarf' [Williamson 1834: 9]). Standing between
178.27cm (5' 10") and 181.2cm (6') (using the equations
of Trotter [1970] and Fully [1956], respectively), he was of above
average height for the Early Bronze Age compared with the statures of
other individuals from Early Bronze Age barrows (mean height = 174.5 [+
or -] 5.0cm 1sd). Taking the more accurate Fully (cf. Raxter et al.
2006) result of 178.27cm, Gristhorpe Man is at the top end of the
stature range (161.6-185.3cm) and nearly a standard deviation from the
mean for the group (Wastling 2006). A body mass estimate, ranging
between 69.8kg and 74.6kg (using the methods of Ruff et al. 1991;
McHenry 1992; Grine et al. 1995), suggests a body mass index of roughly
22, which is in the heart of the normal range of 19 to 25 of modern
standards (Frisancho 1993: 428). The maximum bi-iliac breadth method
(Ruff 2000) suggests a body mass index of between about 24 and 25, which
falls towards the upper end of the normal range of 19 to 25 of modern
standards (Frisancho 1993: 428). The estimates of body mass are based on
articular surface measurements that are set at physiological maturity
(Ruff et aL 1991), when growth ceases. This means that in his prime,
Gristhorpe Man possessed a lithe, muscular build that would be
considered healthy by modern standards. Some form of strenuous physical
activity involving extension, abduction and lateral rotation of the hip
resulted in bilateral third trochanters and marked hypotrochanteric
fossae on the posterior surfaces of the femora, a combination of
physical changes indicative of strenuous activity of the hips and lower
limbs. Comparing favourably with the previously analysed and very robust
Towton medieval combatants (Knusel 2000), Gristhorpe Man appears to have
been right-handed and strongly lateralised, indicating that he engaged
in activities requiring strenuous use of his dominant right upper limb
(Tables 1 & 2). This could have been from weapon use, although other
activities requiring the use of a single hand, technological or
subsistence-linked, could also have contributed to this asymmetry.
Gristhorpe Man's origins and diet were investigated using a
combination of stable isotope measurements. Strontium, lead and
phosphate oxygen isotope ratios from the mandibular second molar tooth
enamel, which mineralises between the ages of two and a half and eight
(Gustafson & Koch 1974), are all consistent with origins on the
Jurassic silicate rocks of the Scarborough region but not Jurassic
limestones or the Cretaceous Chalk of the Wolds (Montgomery 2002;
Darling et al. 2003; Montgomery et al. 2005; Evans et al. 2010) (Table
3). The results cannot rule out origins in other regions of Europe where
a similar combination of values might be found, but the most
parsimonious explanation for such results is that he spent his childhood
in north-east Yorkshire. Childhood (second molar root dentine) and later
life (cortical femur) diet were investigated using carbon and nitrogen
isotope analysis of collagen (Table 4). Both provide a similar result:
[[delta].sup.15]N = 11.3[per thousand] (dentine) and 10.7[per thousand]
(femur); [[delta].sup.13]C = -21.0[per thousand] (dentine) and-21.1[per
thousand] (femur). This indicates that his diet contained a substantial
amount of protein of terrestrial origin from an early age, placing him
at the upper end of the range for other East Yorkshire and British Late
Neolithic and Bronze Age individuals (Jay & Richards 2007; Jay et
al. in press). Relatively reduced dental wear and lack of enamel
hypoplastic lines (the presence of which would indicate a stressed
growth period) and robust skeletal development testify to an individual
who benefited from good nutrition and a diet that contained cariogenic
foodstuffs from birth (as suggested by the presence of dental caries).
Three small, spherical objects, c. 5mm in diameter, originally
thought to have been 'mistletoe berries', were found in the
coffin (Williamson 1834, 1872). The chemical composition of one of these
was investigated by Raman Spectroscopy. The Raman spectra from the outer
surface and inner core revealed the presence of peaks typically
associated with phosphate and degraded protein (Edwards et al. in
press). Their composition is similar to modern kidney or gallstone
calculus, a result that is consistent with his age-at-death and also
high nitrogen values associated with a meat-based diet that would have
predisposed him to suffer these abdominal stones during his advanced
years (cf. Blackman et al. 1991).
Brachycrany (cranial index of 82.7), typical for the Bronze Age, as
well as his height and strong build, with isotope evidence for a
high-protein diet, support the hypothesis that Gristhorpe Man was
probably a member of an elite from birth. The presence of traumatic
injuries--two healed fractures of left ribs six and nine (Figure 3), and
damage to cervical vertebrae two and three that resulted in left
apophyseal joint fusion (Figure 4)--in addition to vertebral
degenerative osteophytes of vertebral bodies and a large syndesmophyte
extending from the right side of the first sacral vertebra, attests to
the effects of physical rigours and advanced age. In addition to dental
disease (caries), he had suffered further episodes of trauma to the
lower central incisors resulting in dead tooth roots and cyst formation.
Furthermore, a large cyst had formed above the left maxillary molars and
into the maxillary antrum.
[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]
Since the nineteenth-century wiring could not be interfered with,
the skeleton was submitted for CT scanning to obtain 3D visualisation
and virtual dissection. This enabled articular surfaces to be examined
and revealed that, despite his healthy physique and physical evidence
for social advantage for much of his life, Gristhorpe Man suffered from
a slowly developing intra-osseous, benign intracranial tumour in the
left anterior parieto-temporal region (Figure 5), the increased
intra-cranial pressure from which probably had an impact on cerebral
function. A lesion in this location may have had behavioural
consequences prior to death, ranging from intermittent headaches,
vomiting, aphasia (i.e. impaired speech and speech comprehension) and
hemiparesis (i.e. muscle weakness) to impaired consciousness and seizure
(Aufderheide & Rodriguez-Martin 1998:250-51; De Angelis et al. 2002:
68).
[FIGURE 5 OMITTED]
Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was undertaken on a
small (1-2mg) sample of black material contained in a vial labelled
'brain'. Although lipid analysis of degraded brain tissue from
archaeological contexts is uncommon (Gulacara et al. 1990), analysis
revealed the presence of stanols and stanones in high abundance
including coprostanol (5[beta]-cholestanol), epicoprostanol and
coprostanone (5[beta]-cholestan-3-one). These are microbial alteration
products of cholesterol. The brain is the most cholesterol-rich organ in
the human body. Cholesterol is the only sterol present in the adult
human brain and accounts for 25 per cent of total lipid of the tissue
(Norton 1981). Although no cholesterol was present in the Gristhorpe
sample, the abundance of cholesterol alteration products suggests that
the sample could indeed be remnant brain tissue. Stable isotope analysis
supports this interpretation: the nitrogen isotope ratio obtained from
the black material ([[delta].sup.15]N = 11.7[per thousand] is very
similar to that obtained from the tooth dentine ([[delta].sup.15]N =
11.3[per thousand]), whilst the carbon isotope ratio ([[delta].sup.13]C
= -23.6[per thousand]) is 2.6[per thousand] more negative than that for
the dentine ([[delta].sup.13]C = -21.0[per thousand]. This situation
would be consistent with the expected carbon isotope ratio offset
between collagen and a fatty, lipid rich tissue such as the brain (Jim
et al. 2004).
The coffin and grave goods
On discovery, the 2.29 x 0.99m coffin was aligned north-south and
in an excellent state of preservation. It was roughly square cut at the
foot (i.e. northern) end, but the base and lid had been rounded off at
the head (i.e. southern) end to give it a 'canoe' shape. More
explicitly canoe-shaped examples have been found at Loose Howe (Elgee
& Elgee 1949) (for example, see Grinsell 1941). Only the coffin lid,
which now measures 2.26 x 0.79m, survives.
In 1834 the excavators identified 'a rude figure of a human
face' carved into the foot end of the lid, i.e. at the opposite end
to the head of the body inside (Williamson 1834: 5-6). This carving, now
much degraded, is surrounded by a cut which flares, possibly to indicate
shoulders (Maron 2007), and which distinguishes it from the surrounding
wood (Figure 6). There is no bark present on the carved 'face'
and an area of flattened sapwood and a slightly curving gash may be the
results of damage during the lifting of the coffin in 1834 (Williamson
1834: 5-6, 1872: 6).
[FIGURE 6 OMITTED]
The artefacts accompanying the burial are characteristic of other
Early Bronze Age adult males in Yorkshire and elsewhere in Britain,
except that they include organic materials that do not normally survive.
According to Williamson's account (1834: 10, 1872: 15), the body
lay on 'vegetable substance' described as rushes, and was
wrapped in animal hide fixed at the chest with a polished bone pin, 72mm
long, which has been fashioned from a pig fibula (T. O'Connor pers.
comm.)
On the lower chest was 'a double rose of a ribband, with two
loose ends' decorated with raised lines made of a brittle material
that disintegrated on exposure to air (Williamson 1834: 10, 1872: 15).
No other garments or human hair, nails and skin were reported. The
animal skin may have survived because it had been treated, perhaps
tanned, before burial.
Several other objects accompanied the corpse; unfortunately, their
original positions were mostly not recorded. These comprise: 1) a dagger
blade and pommel; 2) a knife and two flint flakes; 3) a bark container,
found beside the body; 4) a small wooden object, probably a fastener;
and 5) fox metatarsal and pine marten phalanges, originally identified
by William Buckland as from a weasel. The 'horn ring; and
'mistletoe berries' (Williamson 1834) or 'seeds of a
leguminous plant' (Williamson 1872) have, as already discussed, now
been identified as ossified tracheal cartilage rings and kidney stones
(see above).
The dagger has a short, slender flat bronze blade (Figure 7),
classified by Gerloffwithin her Type Merthyr Mawr, Variant Parwich
(Gerloff 1975:51). A revised classification (Needham forthcoming)
confirms that it can be grouped with early flat bronze daggers (series
2) despite being one of the shortest examples; this may in part be due
to sharpening. It is placed in type F3 (Merthyr Mawr) which seems to be
specifically late within the overall currency of series 2 weapons,
dating close to the turn of the millennium. The cutting-edge was
cold-worked and annealed through several cycles at a temperature high
enough to ensure a homogeneous bronze. The organic hilt, of which no
trace survives, was riveted to the blade with two metal peg rivets. The
original 1834 illustration of the blade appears to depict a scabbard,
which would have been made from wooden plates lined and/or covered with
hide (Henshall 1968; Cameron 2003; Gabra-Sanders et al. 2003). This no
longer survives except perhaps in the form of traces of animal collagen
on the blade which were visible on scanning electron micrographs.
[FIGURE 7 OMITTED]
Metallurgical analysis of the blade shows it to have been of an
unleaded medium tin-bronze with 12.00% tin, which is within the 9-12%
range characteristic of Early Bronze Age alloys (Northover 2007). The
principal impurities are 0.38% arsenic, 0.09% antimony, 0.14% silver and
0.07% lead, with traces of nickel, zinc, and bismuth (Northover 2007).
The arsenic/antimony/silver impurity pattern and the negligible nickel
are consistent with Northover's Group A3, long attributed to
Ireland (Rohl & Needham 1998; O'Brien et al. 2004). Detailed
typological studies suggest that the Gristhorpe dagger, like most
contemporary British objects, would have been manufactured in Britain
using recycled Irish metal (Needham 2004). The lead isotope ratios
(Table 3) are also consistent with the presence of Irish copper ore, as
they overlap with those of Chalcolithic 'A' metal from Ireland
and Wales.
Perhaps the most extraordinary item in the assemblage is the
perfectly preserved pommel, the sides of which splay out to a flat oval
top c. 52mm wide (Figure 8) dwarfing the blade, whose maximum width is
about 38mm. The top and sides are polished to a high sheen, but it is
unclear whether or not this is partly due to use-wear. Originally
identified as whalebone, reappraisal confirms it as a cetacean jawbone.
Its form is intermediate between two clearly defined classes of socketed
pommels; broadly speaking, pre-2000 BC examples (class 2) are oval in
plan and rectangular/gently trapezoidal in face view, whereas post-2000
BC (class 3) pommels are elliptical or lenticular in plan and more
strongly expanded, usually with a 'lip' at the top (Needham
forthcoming). The Gristhorpe pommel is unusual in combining
characteristics of both classes.
[FIGURE 8 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 9 OMITTED]
Three lithic artefacts recovered from the log-coffin comprise a
finely retouched blade (Figure 9) described in the original report as
the head of a small javelin (Williamson 1834: 8) but identifiable as a
knife, and two unmodified flakes, described originally as 'rude
heads of arrows' (Williamson 1834: 9). In the 1872 report the
retouched blade is described as an 'implement of flint ... [these
were] ... probably used as knives, or occasionally as scrapers for
cleaning skins' (Williamson 1872: 14). The other two pieces were
correctly described as flint flakes. These artefacts are readily
paralleled in Early Bronze Age graves from Yorkshire and elsewhere in
Britain, with numerous examples from the East Riding of Yorkshire as
illustrated by Mortimer (1905).
The bark container, now a quantity of warped and degraded pieces of
wood and bark, had a flat wooden base to which bark sides had been
attached. It was first described as 'a kind of dish, or shallow
basket of wicker work' (Williamson 1834: 9) and later as 'a
kind of dish composed of pieces of bark stitched together with strips of
skin or of animal sinews' (Williamson 1872: 15). Williamson (1834:
9) described a deposit of organic material found inside the container as
'a quantity of decomposed matter, which has not yet been
analysed'. At some stage it was labelled as food residue' and
a hand-written note in the museum archive records that it was
investigated by Stuart Piggott in the 1950s, but the analysis proved
indeterminate.
[FIGURE 10 OMITTED]
GC-MS analysis of solvent extracts of this deposit suggests a plant
origin. However, there appears to be contamination of the sample from
lignin-derived molecules that may have leached from the oak coffin.
Analysis of a tiny fragment of the coffin supported such a view.
Although further work is required, it may be that the deposit is not a
food residue but a plant-based product used to make the interior
waterproof. Whether the fibrous material, hair and sinew traces found
embedded in it represent accidental inclusions or the last traces of
some foodstuff is unclear.
A small wooden object, 44 x 6.4mm, rounded at one end and slightly
waisted, tapers to a spatulate shape at the other end (Figure 10). It is
manufactured from a small piece of roundwood not identifiable to
species. A slight notch across the waist on one side, created through
use, makes it likely that this was a fastener, shaped so that the
tapered surface would lie flat when fastened. A possible use is as a
pouch fastener (analogous to the V-perforated buttons probably used in
this way at Rudston, barrow 68a and at Acklam Wold barrow 124, Yorkshire
[Greenwell 1877: 265; Mortimer 1905: 91; Shepherd 1973, 2009]) or else
as a fastener for the bark container.
The black-stained fox metatarsal and pine marten phalanges found
among the vegetable matter in the coffin may be the remnants of fox and
pine marten furs, as paws are often retained with the pelt when an
animal is skinned. Alternatively, the bones may simply attest to the
presence of animal remains, perhaps as amulets.
The date of the burial
A combination of AMS radiocarbon and dendrochronological dating of
the Gristhorpe assemblage provides insight into the sequence of events
related to burial and permits comparison with similar finds. All
radiocarbon dates are quoted at 95% confidence and full details are
given in Melton et al. (forthcoming). Dagger blade and pommel typologies
suggest a date of around 2000 BC, and a conventional radiocarbon date
obtained in the 1980s on the branches overlying the coffin provided a
date of 2300-1650 cal BC (HAR-4424).
The longest possible dendrochronological sequence was obtained from
two sections from the oak coffin lid. A section from the
'foot' end, near the carving, including the bark and outer
rings, produced 126 rings, and one from the 'head' end, 108
rings. Together these provide a 173 year composite ring sequence. The
relatively small number of rings for the size of section suggests fast
growth in a favourable environment (Tyers pen. comm.). Unfortunately, it
was not possible to match this floating ring sequence with others from
the region to obtain a calendar date because the sequence was relatively
short and there are few dated dendrochronological records for this Early
Bronze Age period (Tyers pets. comm.).
AMS radiocarbon dating was carried out on tooth root dentine, on
femoral samples and on the branches overlying the coffin. In addition, a
sequence of six evenly spaced tree-ring samples was obtained from the
dendrochronology section from the coffin lid to allow a more precise
wiggle-matched radiocarbon date for felling. Two factors had to be borne
in mind when dating the skeleton: first, whether the attempt in 1834 to
consolidate the 'very rotten' bones by simmering them for
eight hours in a 'thin solution of glue' (Williamson 1872: 7)
had introduced animal collagen; and, second, whether the skeleton is a
nineteenth-century composite or replacement, with Indian ink (J. Ambers
pers. comm.) used to 'touch up' substitute bones. The survival
of so much bone mineral from an oak coffin burial is highly unusual, as
conditions are not normally conducive to bone mineral preservation (Glob
trans. 1983; Randsborg & Christensen 2006: 35-6).
The tooth root dentine provided a date of 2140-1940 cal BC
(OXA-16844), while the femur gave a date of 2280-2030 cal BC
(OXA-19219). These combine to give a date for the skeleton of 2200-2020
cal BC at 95% confidence. In addition, the level of lead in the tooth
enamel (three ppb) is extremely low even compared to other Bronze Age or
pre-metallurgical Neolithic populations (Montgomery et al. 2000, 2005;
Montgomery 2002). Such a low level of lead indicates Gristhorpe Man
inhabited a remarkably unpolluted environment which was not the case for
people living in nineteenth-century England (Montgomery et al.
forthcoming). This finding thus supports the dating evidence that shows
the skeleton is of Early Bronze Age date and not that of a
nineteenth-century individual.
The stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of the dated collagen
are inconsistent with terrestrial herbivores, marine fish or marine
mammal collagen, so the skeleton seems to have been unaffected by
nineteenth-century attempts at conservation with glue. The same is true
for the surface and sub-surface femur samples, and for the separated,
ultra-filtered and small fraction samples where degraded animal collagen
might be detected if present. All of these samples provided very similar
carbon and nitrogen stable isotope results (Table 4), which leaves open
the question of why the skeleton survived so well and, furthermore, how
the unusual nineteenth-century conservation method worked. There is no
apparent evidence for any protein that does not come from an Early
Bronze Age human. The section of femur used for dating, although
stained, was greasy and dense, with a high collagen yield. This strongly
suggests that original collagen preservation was very good. Moreover,
any mineral loss was not so extensive as to render the bones soft; there
is no evidence for bone warping and deformation. Unfortunately, although
a chemical analysis of the coffin water was made in 1834, the pH is
unknown, but it is likely that any acid in the burial environment was
buffered by the presence in the water of 'much sulphate of
lime', (Williamson 1872: 8) and this, coupled with anaerobic
conditions, led to the preservation of both mineral and organic
materials.
The branches over the coffin dated to 1750-1530 col BC (OxA-
16812). Wiggle-matching of the radiocarbon dates for the coffin lid
(Bronk Ramsey et al. 2001) confirmed a date of 2115-2035 cal BC for the
date of felling.
The combined dating evidence indicates that the tree for the coffin
was felled between 2115 cal BC and 2035 cal BC and that Gristhorpe Man
died between 2200 cal BC and 2020 cal BC, indicating that these could
have been contemporary events. The branches over the coffin were cut
between 1750 cal BC and 1530 cal BC, meaning that this cannot have
occurred at the same time, and that the branches were laid over the
coffin at least 270 years after the death of Gristhorpe Man. The
tree-ring sequence from the coffin can now be incorporated into the
dated master records for the region.
Discussion
The unusual preservation circumstances of Gristhorpe Man provide a
rare insight into Early Bronze Age funerary practices and the social
networks that supported them. Parallels can be found for most, if not
all, of the burial goods. In particular, the hide wrapping and the
dagger with its pommel of rare cetacean bone represent items of
conspicuous display that, along with the coffin and the structure and
location of the funerary monument, emphasise a pre-eminent social status
that is perhaps closely paralleled by the log-coffin grave unearthed at
Stoborough, Dorset (Hutchins 1767).
Among these distinctive interments, where individual social
identities appear to be emphasised (cf. Treherne 1995; Stig Sorensen
1997; Whitley 2002), is a group of males accompanied by metal weapons.
These weapons, along with the conspicuous consumption usually involved
in the construction of the funerary monuments, would have served to
justify and legitimate a pre-eminent social position in life and in
death.
Well-excavated burial sites frequently show complex histories of
construction and successive burial deposits. The oak branches were
described as '... carelessly thrown over the coffin; they are from
five to eight inches in diameter, and, like the coffin, are still
covered with their rough bark' (Williamson 1872: 16). If these are
the axe-trimmed logs curated in the museum today, there is at least a
270-year difference between them and the oak coffin. It may be that
Gristhorpe is an example of an interment that remained accessible for a
time before the barrow was completed over it, or--more likely, given the
coffin's state of preservation--the subject of a later intrusion or
interment unrecognised by the nineteenth-century excavators.
The choice of grave goods may well have had special symbolic
significance. The cetacean bone pommel indicates a connection with the
sea that might also be echoed in the boat-like shape of the coffin. It
is also curious that this senior dagger-accompanied male, a class of
individual almost invariably laid on the left side at this time, is here
laid on his right side looking out to sea. It is clear that travel, and
the long-distance movement of materials and objects, was important to
the operation of Early Bronze Age society (e.g. Needham 2009).
Gristhorpe Man appears to be a paramount chief born locally, as
indicated by his local isotope ratios, but linked into a wide network by
the sea, with his burial accoutrements being part of a regional
tradition of interment. The bark container with its probable internal
coating of sealant appears to be a vessel or container paralleled by the
characteristic Beaker or Food Vessel found with other near-contemporary
single burials (see Ashbee 1960; Needham 2005; Woodward et al. 2005).
The ostentation of the Gristhorpe grave appears to have been
matched by the physical attributes of the man himself. His prominent
stature and body mass suggest that he benefited from good nutrition and
living conditions from birth. The high nitrogen isotope ratio for the
period indicates a substantial meat component to his diet that
predisposed him to develop renal stones or gallstones, a condition
associated with older, well-fed males of higher socio-economic status
today. The skeletal and isotope evidence for good nutrition from early
childhood would be consistent with inherited rather than acquired
status. It is likely that this pre-eminent social standing was built
upon an active lifestyle that included strong lateralised use of his
right upper limb, perhaps in martial exploits that exposed him to
several traumatic injuries in the form of healed fractures. In later
life, he developed an intra-cranial tumour that may have caused physical
and behavioural impairment, particularly of his dominant limb and those
qualities that aided his rise to social prominence, such as the use and
comprehension of speech, physical strength and co-ordinated movement.
Conclusion
The early discovery and publication of the Gristhorpe burial in
1834 and its re-working by the same author nearly half a century later
in 1872 afford a rare opportunity to appraise changes in
nineteenth-century archaeological thought. The interpretation of the
find in 1834 is very much in the antiquarian manner, with heavy emphasis
on classical sources, mainly that of Julius Caesar, which we now know
describes societies at a 2000-year remove from the Gristhorpe burial. By
1872 Williamson was able to employ Thomsen's/Worsaae's
'Three Age System', both Thomsen and Worsaae having previously
compared the Gristhorpe remains with similar Danish log-coffins in the
formulation of this bedrock of archaeological interpretation
(Rowley-Conwy 2007:118; Worsaae trans. 1849: fn. 96). Our new programme
of dating on the Gristhorpe skeleton and coffin, along with recent
dendrochronological dating of the Danish examples (Randsborg &
Christensen 2006), shows conclusively that Gristhorpe Man is the earlier
by some 700 years.
This type of chronological resolution epitomises the advances made
in the discipline over the years since 1872. Other noteworthy
developments include residue analyses of proteins and chemical
constituents of both artefacts and human remains that clarify the
identification, preservation, manufacture and use of material and
biological remains found in funerary contexts. Major advances have been
made in analyses of human remains. This subject has been entirely
re-invented from its origin as part of medicine and reliant upon
now-defunct methods, such as phrenology, the latter being present in the
1836 analysis of Gristhorpe Man but reproduced with due scepticism in
1872. New methods include standards for determining age at death, sex,
body proportions, and health status, enhanced most recently by the
application of medical imaging techniques. Isotopic analyses now provide
means to examine the diet, provenance and movement of people to explore
the origin and social relationships implicit in funerary contexts. The
use of these studies, in conjunction with continued scholarly synthesis
of archaeological discoveries, highlights the value of the retention and
curation of finds. The Gristhorpe remains have resided in the Rotunda
Museum since 1834, and their new display ensures public dissemination of
research findings, as well as their availability for future study in
light of even newer techniques and ideas.
Research credits and acknowledgements
The project has been funded by grants from the British Academy,
British Association for the Advancement of Science, Natural Environment
Research Council, Royal Archaeological Institute and Scarborough Museums
Trust. CJK's participation in this project was funded by a
Leverhulme Research Fellowship (RF/6/RFG/2008/0253). Melton and
Montgomery visited the Rotunda Museum in 2004, and agreed a plan for a
major re-investigation of the Gristhorpe assemblage with Karen Snowden,
the Curator of the Museum, while the Museum was undergoing renovation.
The find was subsequently transferred to the Archaeological Sciences
Conservation Laboratory, University of Bradford, where a programme of
further excavation, scientific analysis and interpretation was
undertaken (Melton et al. forthcoming) prior to its return for the
museum re-opening in 2008. The main restriction on the reinvestigation
was that Harland and Weddell's articulation was considered part of
the exhibit, and this meant all work on the skeleton had to be performed
whilst leaving the original wiring intact.
The isotope ratios for the skeleton and the dagger were measured at
the NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, Keyworth, by Carolyn Chenery
and Jane Evans, and at the Stable Light Isotope Facility, University of
Bradford, by Andrew Gledhill to whom we are particularly grateful. Simon
Chaplin, Director of Museums and Special Collections, The Royal College
of Surgeons of England, provided modern renal and urinary calculi. The
radiocarbon dates were produced by the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator
Unit and funded by NERC.
We acknowledge the assistance and advice of the following staff at
the University of Bradford: Julia Beaumont, Dr Julie Bond, Dr Chris
Gaffney, Gary Rushworth, Dr Jill Thompson. A significant aspect of the
project was the work that was undertaken in the form of Masters
dissertations, and in this respect we are particularly grateful to
Joanne Hawkins, David Maron, Samantha Hodgson and Vaughan Wastling,
whose respective studies of the basket, coffin, geophysics and skeleton
have provided a wealth of detailed analysis and interpretation. A number
of external experts must also be thanked, in particular Janet Ambers
(British Museum), Prof. Terry O'Connor (York University), Dr Sue
Ovenden (Orkney College) and Ian Tyers (Dendrochronological Consultancy
Ltd).
Special thanks are due to: Mr D. Kaye and Mr N. Ankers, Blue
Dolphin Holiday Park, and Haven Holidays for permission to carry out the
geophysical surveys and excavation; Mrs D. Beswick for information on
William Beswick, and Terry Manby for supplying a copy of Neville
Harland's letter to Frank Elgee from the Yorkshire Archaeological
Society archives.
This contribution has benefited from Carol Palmer's clarity of
thought and her perspective as an inside-outsider and Peter
Montgomery's assistance with Figure 1.
Finally, this project would not have taken place without the
support and collaboration of Karen Snowden, Head of Collections at the
Scarborough Museums Trust, who gave permission to sample the finds and
provided assistance and advice throughout.
Received: 16 October 2009; Accepted: 27 November 2009; Revised: 2
February 2010
References
ASHBEE, P. 1960. The Bronze Age round barrow in Britain. London:
Phoenix House.
AUFDERHEIDE, A.C. & C. RODRIGUES-MARTIN. 1998. The Cambridge
encyclopedia of human paleopathology. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
BLACKMAN, J., M.J. ALLISON, A.C. AUFDERHEIDE, N. OLDROYD & R.T.
STEINBOCK. 1991. Secondary hyperparathyroidism in an Andean mummy, in
D.J. Ormer & A.C. Aufderheide (ed.) Human paleopathology: current
syntheses and future options: 291-6. Washington (DC) & London:
Smithsonian Institution Press.
BRONK RAMSEY, C., J. VAN DER PLICHT & B. WENINGER. 2001. Wiggle
matching radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 43:381-9.
BROTHWELL, D.R. 1981. Digging up bones: the excavation, treatment
and study of human skeletal remains (third edition). London: British
Museum (Natural History); Oxford: Oxford University Press.
CAMERON, E. 2003. The dagger: hilt and scabbard, in L. Baker, J.A.
Sheridan & T.G. Cowie, An Early Bronze Age 'dagger grave'
from Rameldry Farm, near Kingskettle, Fife. Proceedings of the Society
of Antiquaries of Scotland 133: 85-123.
CHENERY, C.A., G. MOLDNER, J. EVANS, H. ECKHARDT, S. LEACH & M.
LEWIS. 2010. Strontium and stable isotope evidence for diet and mobility
in Roman Gloucester, UK. Journal of Archaeological Science 37: 150-63.
COLT-HOARE, R. 1812. The history of ancient Wiltshire: volume 1.
London: W. Miller.
DARLING, W.G., A.H. BATH & J.C. TALBOT. 2003. The O & H
stable isotopic composition of fresh waters in the British Isles 2:
surface waters and groundwater. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
7(2): 183-95.
DAVIS, J.B. & J. THURNAM. 1865. Crania Britannica: delineations
and descriptions of the skulls of the early inhabitants of the British
islands, together with notices of their other remains: volume 2. London:
Printed for the subscribers.
DE ANGELIS, L.M., P.H. GUTIN, S.A. LEIBEL & J.B. POSNER. 2002.
Intracranial tumours: diagnosis and treatment. London: Martin Dunitz.
DRENTH, E. & E. LOHOF. 2005. Mounds for the dead: funerary and
burial ritual in Beaker period, Early and Middle Bronze Age, in L.P.
Louwe Kooijmans, P.W. van den Broeke, H. Fokkens & A.L. van Gijn
(ed.) The prehistory of the Netherlands: volume 1: 433-54. Amsterdam:
Amsterdam University Press.
EDWARDS, H.G.M., J. MONTGOMERY, N.D. MELTON, M.D. HARGREAVES, A.S.
WILSON & E.A. CARTER. In press. Gristhorpe Man: Raman spectroscopic
study of a Bronze Age log-coffin burial. Journal of Raman Spectroscopy.
DOI 10.1002/jrs.2593.
ELGEE, H.W. & F. ELGEE. 1949. An Early Bronze Age burial in a
boat-shaped wooden coffin from north-east Yorkshire. Proceedings of the
Prehistoric Society 15: 87-106.
EVANS, J.A., J. MONTGOMERY, G. WILDMAN & N. BOULTON. 2010.
Spatial variations in biosphere 87 Sr/86Sr in Britain. Journal of the
Geological Society, London 167: l-4.
FRANK, A.G. 1993. Bronze Age world system cycles. Current
Anthropology 34(4): 383-429.
FRENCH, C.A.I. 2003. Geoarchaeology in action: studies in soil
micromorphology and landscape evolution. London: Routledge.
FRENCH, C.A.I., M.J. ALLEN & H. LEWIS (ed.) 2007. Prehistoric
landscape development and human impact in the Upper Allen Valley,
Cranborne Chase, Dorset. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for
Archaeological Research.
FRISANCHO, A.R. 1993. Human adaptation and accommodation. Ann Arbor
(MI): University of Michigan Press.
FULLY, G. 1956. Une nouvelle methode de determination de la taille.
Annuaire de Medecine Legale 35: 266-73.
GABRA-SANDERS, T., M. CRESSEY & C. CLARKE. 2003. The scabbard,
in M. Cressey & J.A. Sheridan, The excavation of a Bronze Age
cemetery at Seafield West, near Inverness, Highland. Proceedings of the
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 133: 47-84.
GERLOFF, S. 1975. The Early Bronze Age daggers in Great Britain and
a reconsideration of the Wessex culture (Prahistorische Bronzefunde 6:
2). Munich: Beck.
GLOB, P.V. 1973 (trans. 1983). The mound people: Danish Bronze-Age
man preserved. Translated by J. Bulman. London: Paladin.
GREENWELL, W. 1877. British barrows. Oxford: Clarendon.
GRINE, F.E., W.L. JUNGERS, P.V. TOBIAS & O.M. PEARSON. 1995.
Fossil Homo femur from Berg Aukas, Northern Namibia. American Journal of
Physical Anthropology 97:151-85.
GRINSELL, L.V. 1941. The boat of the dead in the Bronze Age.
Antiquity 15: 360-70.
GOLACARA, F.O., A. SUSINI & M. KLOHN. 1990. Preservation and
post-mortem transformations of lipids in samples from a 4000-year-old
Nubian mummy. Journal of Archaeological Science 17: 691-705.
GUSTAFSON, G. & G. KOCH. 1974. Age estimation up to 16 years of
age based on dental development. Odontologisk Revy 25: 297-306.
HARDING, A.F. 2000. European societies in the Bronze Age.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
HARLAND, N. 1932. Letter to F. Elgee dated 28th February 1932.
Frank Elgee Archive, Yorkshire Archaeological Society, 23 Clarendon
Road, Leeds LS2 9NZ, UK.
HENSHALL, A.S. 1968 Scottish dagger graves, in J.M. Coles &
D.D.A. Simpson (ed.) Studies in ancient Europe: 273-95. Leicester:
Leicester University Press.
HUTCHINS, J. 1767. Archaeology: part I. Gentleman's Magazine:
94-5.
ISCAN, M.Y. & S.R. LOTH. 1986. Estimation of age and
determination of sex from the sternal rib, in K.J. Reichs (ed.) Forensic
osteology: 68-89. Springfield (IL): Charles C. Thomas.
JAY, M. & M. RICHARDS. 2007. The Beaker People Project:
progress and prospects for the carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotopic
analysis of collagen, in M. Larsson & M. Parker Pearson (ed.) From
Stonehenge to the Baltic: living with cultural diversity in the third
millennium BC (British Archaeological Reports International series
1692): 77-82. Oxford: Archaeopress.
JAY, M., M. PARKER PEARSON, M. RICHARDS, O. NEHLICH, J. MONTGOMERY,
A. CHAMBERLAIN & A. SHERIDAN. In press. The Beaker People Project:
an interim report on the progress of the isotopic analysis of the
organic skeletal material, in M.J. Allen, J. Gardiner, A. Sheridan &
D. McOmish (ed.) The British Chalcolithic: place and polity in the later
third millennium (Prehistoric Society Research Papers 4). Oxford: Oxbow.
JENSEN, J. 1998. Manden i kisten, hvad bronzealdererens gravhoje
gemte. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
JIM, S., S.H. AMBROSE & R.P. EVERSHED. 2004. Stable carbon
isotopic evidence for differences in the biosynthetic origin of bone
cholesterol, collagen and apatite: implications for their use in
palaeodietary reconstruction. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 68: 61-72.
KNOSEL, C.J. 2000. Activity-related skeletal change, in V. Fiorato,
A. Boylston & C.J. Kntisel (ed.) Blood red roses: the archaeology of
a mass grave from the Battle of Towton AD 1461: 103-18. Oxford: Oxbow.
KRISTIANSEN, K. & T.B. LARSSON. 2005. The rise of Bronze Age
society: travels, transmissions and transformations. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
LEVINSON, A.A., B. LUZ & Y. KOLODNY. 1987. Variations in oxygen
isotope compositions of human teeth and urinary stones. Applied
Geochemistry 2: 367-71.
MCHENRY, H.M. 1992. Body size and proportions in early hominids.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology 87:407-431.
MARON, D.R. 2007. The Bronze Age tree trunk coffin from Gristhorpe,
East Yorkshire: curation, scholarship, and new research agenda.
Unpublished MSc dissertation, Bradford University.
MEINDL, R.S. & C.O. LOVEJOY. 1985. Ectocranial suture closure:
a revised method for the determination of skeletal age based on the
lateral-anterior sutures. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 68:
57-66.
MELTON, N.D., J. MONTGOMERY & C.J. KNOSEL (ed.)
Forthcoming. Gristhorpe Man: a life and death in the Bronze Age
(Yorkshire Archaeological Society Occasional Monograph Series).
MONTGOMERY, J. 2002. Lead and strontium isotope compositions of
human dental tissues as an indicator of ancient exposure and population
dynamics. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Bradford University.
MONTGOMERY, J., P. BUDD & J. EVANS. 2000. Reconstructing the
lifetime movements of ancient people: a Neolithic case study from
southern England. European Journal of Archaeology 3(3): 407-22.
MONTGOMERY, J., J.A. EVANS, D. POWLESLAND & C.A. ROBERTS. 2005.
Continuity or colonization in Anglo-Saxon England? Isotope evidence for
mobility, subsistence practice, and status at West Heslerton. American
Journal of Physical Anthropology 126(2): 12-38.
MONTGOMERY, J., J.A. EVANS, S.R. CHENERY, V. PASHLEY & K.
KILLGROVE. Forthcoming. 'Gleaming, white and deadly': the use
of lead to track human exposure and geographic origins in the Roman
period in Britain, in H. Eckardt (ed.) Roman diasporas: archeological
approaches to mobility and diversity in the Roman Empire. Portsmouth
(RI): Journal of Roman Archaeology.
MORTIMER, J.R. 1905. Forty years researches in British and Saxon
burial mounds of East Yorkshire. London: A. Brown & Sons.
MOWAT, R.J.C. 1996. The log-boats of Scotland. Oxford: Oxbow.
NEEDHAM, S. 2004. Migdale-Marnoch: sunburst of Scottish metallurgy,
in I.A.G. Shepherd & G. Barclay (ed.) Scotland in ancient Europe:
the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age of Scotland in their European
context. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
--2005. Transforming Beaker culture in north-west Europe: processes
of fusion and fission. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 71:
171-217.
--2009. Encompassing the sea: 'Maritories' and Bronze Age
maritime interactions, in P. Clark (ed.) Bronze Age connections:
cultural contact in prehistoric Europe: 12-37. Oxford: Oxbow.
--Forthcoming. A revised classification for British Copper and
Early Bronze Age daggers and knives, and classification of Early Bronze
Age dagger and knife pommel-pieces, in A. Woodward & J. Hunter (ed.)
Ritual in Early Bronze Age gravegoods.
NORTHOVER, P. 2007. Analysis and metallography of the Gristhorpe
Dagger. Report No. R3005 prepared for Oxford Materials Characterisation
Service.
NORTON, W.T. 1981. Formation, structure and biochemistry of myelin,
in G.J. Siegel, A.R. Wayne, B.W. Agranoff & R. Katzman (ed.) Basic
neurochemistry: 63-92. Boston: Little Brown.
O'BRIEN, W., J.P. NORTHOVER & S. STOS. 2004. Lead isotopes
and circulation, in W. O'Brien (ed.) Ross Island: mining, metal and
society in early Ireland (Bronze Age Studies 6): 538-51. Galway: Dept.
of Archaeology, National University of Ireland, Galway.
PARKER PEARSON, M., S. NEEDHAM & J.A. SHERIDAN. Forthcoming.
Bronze Age tree-trunk coffin burials in Britain, in N. Melton, J.
Montgomery & C. Knusel (ed.) Gristhorpe Man: a life and death in the
Bronze Age.
PETERSEN, F. 1969. Early Bronze Age timber graves and coffin
burials on the Yorkshire Wolds. Yorkshire Archaeological Journal 42:
262-7.
PHILLIPS, B. 1856. Untitled communication. Archaeological Journal
13: 183-4.
RANDSBORG, K. & K. CHRISTENSEN. 2006. Bronze Age oak-coffin
graves: archaeology and dendro-dating (Acta Archaeologica 77).
Copenhagen: Blackwell Munksgaard.
RAXTER, M.H., B.M. AUERBACH & C.B. RUFF. 2006. Revision of the
Fully technique for estimating statures. American Journal of Physical
Anthropology 130: 374-84.
ROHL, B. 1996. Lead isotope data from the Isotrace Laboratory,
Oxford: archaeometry data base 2, galena from Britain and Ireland.
Archaeometry 38: 165-80.
ROHL, B.M. & S.P. NEEDHAM. 1998. The circulation of metal in
the British Bronze Age: the application of lead isotope analysis
(British Museum Occasional Paper 102). London: British Museum.
ROWLEY-CONWY, P. 2007. From Genesis to prehistory: the
archaeological Three Age System and its contested reception in Denmark,
Britain and Ireland. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
RUFF, C.B. 2000. Body mass prediction from skeletal frame size in
elite athletes. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 113: 507-517.
RUFF, C.B., W.W. SCOTT & A.Y.-C. LIU. 1991. Articular and
diaphyseal remodeling of the proximal femur with changes in body mass in
adults. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 86: 397-413.
SAVORY, H.N. 1980. Guide catalogue of the Bronze Age collections.
Cardiff: National Museum of Wales.
SHEPHERD, I.A.G. 1973. The v-bored buttons of Great Britain.
Unpublished MA dissertation, Edinburgh University.
--2009. The v-bored buttons of Great Britain and Ireland.
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 75: 335-69.
STIG SORENSEN, M.L. 1997. Reading dress: the construction of social
categories in Bronze Age Europe. Journal of European Archaeology 5(1):
93-114.
TREHERNE, P. 1995. The warriors beauty: the masculine body and
self-identity in Bronze-Age Europe. Journal of European Archaeology
3(1): 105-44.
TROTTER, M. 1970. Estimation of stature from intact limb bones, in
T.D. Stewart (ed.) Personal identification in mass disasters: 71-83.
Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution.
WASTLING, V.J. 2006. Gristhorpe Man: a modern assessment of an
Early Bronze Age tree trunk burial. Unpublished MSc dissertation,
Bradford University.
WHITLEY, J. 2002. Objects with attitude: biographical facts and
fallacies in the study of Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age warrior
graves. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 12(2): 217-32.
WILLIAMSON, W.C. 1834. Description of the tumulus, lately opened at
Gristhorpe, near Scarborough. Scarborough: C.R. Todd.
--1872. Description of the Tumulus opened at Gristhorpe, near
Scarborough. Scathorough: S.W. Theakston.
--1896. Reminiscences of a Yorkshire naturalist. London: George
Redway.
WOODWARD, A., J. HUNTER, R. IXER, M. MALTBY, P.J. POTTS, P.C. WEBB,
J.S. WATSON, & M.C. JONES. 2005. Ritual in some early Bronze Age
grave goods. Archaeological Journal 162: 31-64.
WORSAAE, J.J.A. 1843 (trans. 1849). The primeval antiquities of
Denmark. Translated and applied to the illustration of similar remains
in England by W.J. Thoms. London: John Henry Parker.
Nigel Melton (1) *, Janet Montgomery (1), Christopher J. Knusel
(2), Cathy Batt (1), Stuart Needham (3), Mike Parker Pearson (4), Alison
Sheridan (5), Carl Heron (1), Tim Horsley (6), Armin Schmidt (1), Adrian
Evans (1), Elizabeth Carter (7), Howell Edwards (8), Michael Hargreaves
(8), Rob Janaway (1), Niels Lynnerup (9), Peter Northover (10), Sonia
O'Connor (1), Alan Ogden (1), Timothy Taylor (1), Vaughan Wastling
(1) & Andrew Wilson (1)
* Author for correspondence (Email: N.D.Melton1@bradford.ac.uk)
(1) Archaeological, Geographical and Environmental Sciences, School
of Life Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD7
1DP, UK
(2) Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, Laver
Building, North Park Road, Exeter, Devon EX4 4QE, UK
(3) Honorary Research Fellow, Archaeology & Numismatics,
National Museum Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff, UK
(4) Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, Northgate
House, West Street, Sheffield S1 4ET, IK
(5) National Museums Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF,
UK
(6) University of Michigan, Museum of Anthropology, 1109 Geddes
Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1079, USA
(7) Vibrational Spectroscopy Facility, School of Chemistry, The
University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, NSW, Australia
(8) Centre for Astrobiology & Extremophile Research, Division
of Chemical & Forensic Science, University of Bradford, Bradford,
West Yorkshire BD7 1DP, UK
(9) Laboratory of Biological Anthropology, Institute of Forensic
Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3, DK-2200, Copenhagen,
Denmark
(10) Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Begbroke
Science Park, Sandy Lane, Yarnton, Oxford OX5 1PE UK
Table 1. The measurements and values used to assess humeral
bilateral asymmetry.
Humeral measurement Right (mm) Left (mm) % asymmetry
Maximum transverse head diameter 49 48 2.62
Maximum breadth of the greater 34 34 0
tubercle
Minimum circumference of the 65 60 8
humeral shaft
Epicondylar breadth 67 63 6.2
Articular breadth 49 47 4.1
Maximum length 336 330 1.8
Table 2. The measurements and values obtained to assess clavicular
asymmetry.
Clavicle Right (mm) Left (mm) % asymmetry
Maximum length 155 159 -2-55%
Sagittal diameter at midshaft 14 13 7.41
Vertical diameter at midshaft 10 9.5 6.67%
Table 3. Lead, strontium and oxygen isotope data.
Sample Material Pb ppm [sup.206]Pb/ [sup.207]Pb/
[sup.204]Pb (1) [sup.204]Pb
Dagger Bronze 18.2428 15.6308
Second molar enamel 0.003 18.45 15.63
dentine
Sample Material [sup.208]Pb/ [sup.207]Pb/ [sup.208]Pb/
[sup.204]Pb [sup.206]Pb [sup.206]Pb
Dagger Bronze 38.2600 0.85684 2.09736
Second molar enamel 38.44 0.847 2.083
dentine
Sample Material Sr ppm [sup.87]Sr/ [sup.18][O.sub.bp]
[sup.86]Sr (2) [per thousand] (3)
Dagger Bronze
Second molar enamel 66.3 0.710689 17.2 [+ or -] 0.18
dentine 173.9 0.710619
Sample Material [sup.18][O.sub.dw]
[per thousand] (4)
Dagger Bronze
Second molar enamel -7.8 [+ or -] 0.4
dentine
(1) External reproducibility for the dagger measured by MC-ICP-MS
at NIGL, Keyworth: [+ or -] 0.0124% for [sup.[sup.208]]Pb/[sup.204]Pb;
[+ or -] 0.0108% for [sup.207]Pb/[sup.204]pb; [+ or -] 0.0078% for
[sup.206]pb/[sup.204]Pb; [+ or -] 0.0043% for [sup.207]Pb/[sup.206]Pb;
[+ or -]0.0068% for [sup.208]Pb/[sup.206]Pb 2[sigma] and data are
normalised and errors propagated to within run measurements of NBS 981.
For the tooth measured by TIMS: [+ or -] 0.15% for [sup.208].Pb/
[sup.204]Pb; [+ or -] 0.1 I% for [sup.207]Pb/[sup.204]Ph; -0.07% for
[sup.206]Pb/[sup.204]Pb; [+ or -] 0.04% for [sup.207]Pb/[sup.206]Pb
and [+ or -] 0.08% for [sup.208].Pb/[sup.206]Pb (2[sigma], n=19).
(2) External reproducibility was estimated at [+ or -]0.004%
(2[sigma]).
(3) External and sample reproducibility for phosphate
oxygen measurements was estimated at [+ or -] 0.18
(1[sigma]).
(4) Calculated using Levinson's equation (Levinson et al. 1987)
after correction for the difference between the average published
values for NBS120C and NBS120B used by Levinson (Chenery et al.
2010).
Table 4. Carbon and nitrogen isotope data. Carbon and nitrogen
stable isotope measurements were undertaken by continuous-flow
isotope ratio mass spectrometry at the Stable Light Isotope
Facility, University of Bradford. 'Small fraction' refers to the
collagenous proteins that go through the ultrafilter and hence have
a molecular weight less than 30 000. Analytical error determined
from repeat measurements of internal and international standards was
0.2 per mil or better.
Sample d[sup.13]C d[sup.15]N
Femur--surface removed -21.2 10.7
Femur--surface removed repeat -21.2 10.8
Femur--surface removed small fraction -21.3 10.6
Femur--surface removed small fraction repeat -21.4 10.7
Femur surface--small fraction -21.4 10.5
Femur surface--small fraction repeat -21.7 10.5
Bone 'dust' -21.6 10.5
Bone 'dust'--small fraction -21.1 10.7
Bone 'dust'--small fraction repeat -21.2 10.7
Mean of bone -21.3 10.6
1 sd 0.2 0.1
Tooth dentine from second molar -21.0 11.3
'Brain' -23.6 11.7
Beeswax from inside the cranium -26.8 n/a
Sample %C %N ON n
Femur--surface removed 44.7 16.4 3.2 2
Femur--surface removed repeat 43.6 16.1 3.2 2
Femur--surface removed small fraction 42.3 15.2 3.2 2
Femur--surface removed small fraction repeat 42.3 15.1 3.2 2
Femur surface--small fraction 40.3 13.5 3.4 2
Femur surface--small fraction repeat 40.0 13.1 3.6 1
Bone 'dust' 45.0 15.6 3.4 1
Bone 'dust'--small fraction 40.6 14.3 3.3 2
Bone 'dust'--small fraction repeat 41.4 14.4 3.2 1
Mean of bone 42.2 14.8 3.3
1 sd 1.9 1.1 0.1
Tooth dentine from second molar 45.0 16.9 3.1 2
'Brain' 54.9 8.1 7.9 2
Beeswax from inside the cranium 81.8 0.1 n/a 2
