Differential preservation of children’s bones and teeth recovered from early medieval cemeteries: possible influences for the forensic recovery of non-adult skeletal remains

Authors

  • Bernadette M. Manifold Department of Archaeology, School of Human and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, UK

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2478/anre-2013-0007

Keywords:

bone preservation, deciduous and permanent dentition, under-representation, taphonomy, forensic science, age

Abstract

The skeletal preservation of 421 non-adult skeletons from four early medieval sites in England, Scotland and Wales were compared to assess whether geographical location and geology have an impact on overall bone preservation of children’s remains in the burial environment. Skeletons were examined from the cemeteries of Auldhame in Scotland, Edix Hill and Great Chesterford in England and Llandough in Wales. The bone preservation was examined using three preservational indices: Anatomical preservation index (API), Qualitative preservation index (QBI) and the bone representation index (BRI). A similar pattern existed across all the sites with regard to what bones are preserved, bones with relatively high density, such as the temporal bone of the skull, the long bones of the upper and lower limbs tend to be abundant in the samples, with the more small and fragile bones, such as the facial bones tending to be less well represented either as a result of low bone density or due to loss at excavation. The study of the dental elements also revealed a pattern with regard to what is preserved, with high numbers of molars and incisors found.

This may be related to both the size and number of roots; but also the position in the mouth which may offer protection against loss. A difference in preservation was observed between the sites and the classes of preservation, particularly local differences between the sites of Edix Hill and Great Chesterford. From this study it remains unclear as to the extent the role of geology has on the non-adult skeleton, but the results of this study show that age is not the dominating factor in bone preservation as previously thought.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Acsádi G, Nemeskéri J. 1970. History of Human Lifespan and Mortality. Budapest: Akademiaí Kiado.
View in Google Scholar

Amour-Chelu M, Andrews P. 1996. Surface modification of bone. In: M Bell, PJ Flower, and SW Hillson, editors. The Experimental Earthworks Projects 1960–1992. Council for British archaeology research report 100. York: Council for British Archaeology. 178–85.
View in Google Scholar

Bello SM, Thomann A, Signoli M, Dutour O, Andrews P. 2006. Age and sex bias in the reconstruction of past populations structures. Am J Phys Anthrop 128:24–38.
View in Google Scholar

Bello S, Andrews P. 2006. The intrinsic pattern of preservation of human skeletons and its influence on the interpretation of funerary behaviours. In: Knüsel C and Gowland R. editors. The Social Archaeology of Funerary Remains. Oxford: Oxbow books. 1–13.
View in Google Scholar

Bello S, Sigmoli M, Rabino-Massa E. 2002. Les processus de conservation différentielle du sequelette des individus immature. Implications sur les reconstitutions paléodémographiques. Bull Mem Soc Anthrop 14(3–4):245–62.
View in Google Scholar

Bennike P, Lewis M, Schutkowski H, Valentin F. 2005. Comparisons of child mortality in two contrasting medieval cemeteries from Denmark. Am J Phys Anthropol 127:734–46.
View in Google Scholar

Breitmeier D, Graefee-Kircl U, Albrecht K, Weber M, Tröger HD, Kleemann WJ. 2005. Evaluation of the correlation between time corpses spent in in-ground graves and findings at exhumation. Forensic Sci Int 154:218–23.
View in Google Scholar

Brezillion M. 1963. L’Hypogée des mournouards. Démographie. Gallia Préhistorica 1:50–63.
View in Google Scholar

Brothwell D. 1981. Digging up Bones. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
View in Google Scholar

Buckberry J. 2002. Missing presumed buried? bone diagenesis and the under-representation of Anglo-Saxon children. Available at: Http://www.shef.ac.uk/~cassem/5/buckberr.htlm 2002, Accessed on 10th October 2006.
View in Google Scholar

Buikstra JE, Ubelaker D. 1994. Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains. Fayetteville: Arkansas Archaeological Survey.
View in Google Scholar

Carter DO, Yellowless D, Tibbett M. 2008. Temperature affects microbial decomposition of cadavers (Rattus rattus) in contrasting soils. Appl Soil Ecol 40:129–37.
View in Google Scholar

Chaplin RE. 1971. The Study of Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites. London: Seminar Press.
View in Google Scholar

Child AM. 1995. Microbial taphonomy of archaeological bone. Stud Conserv 40:19–30.
View in Google Scholar

Cox M, Bell L. 1999. Recovery of human skeletal elements from a recent UK murder inquiry: preservational signature. J Forensic Sci 44:401–4.
View in Google Scholar

Crawford S. 1991. When do Anglo-Saxon children count? International Journal of Theoretical Archaeology 2:17–24.
View in Google Scholar

Davies W. 1982. Wales in the Early Middle Ages. Studies in the Early History of Britain. Leicester: Leicester University Press.
View in Google Scholar

Djurić M, Djukić K, Milovanović P. et al. 2011. Representing children in excavated cemeteries: the intrinsic preservation factors. Antiq 85:250–62.
View in Google Scholar

Dodson P, Wexler D. 1979. Taphonomic investigation of owl pellets. Paleobiology 5:278–84.
View in Google Scholar

Erzinclioglu YZ. 1983. The application of entomology to forensic medicine. Med Sci Law 23:57–63.
View in Google Scholar

Evison V. 1994. An Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Great Chesterford, Essex. Council for British Archaeology report 91. York: Council for British Archaeology.
View in Google Scholar

Ferllini R. 2007. Bone scatter on chalk: the importance of osteological knowledge and environmental assessment. In: Brickley MB, Ferllini R, editors. Forensic Anthropology: Case Studies from Europe. Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publishing Ltd. 216–31.
View in Google Scholar

Guy H, Masset C, Baud CA. 1997. Infant taphonomy. Int J Osteoarchaeol 7:221–29.
View in Google Scholar

Hanson DB, Buikstra JE. 1987. Histomorphological alternation in buried human bone from the lower Illinois Valley: implications for palaeodietary research. J Archaeol Sci 14:549–63.
View in Google Scholar

Hedges REM, Millard AR. 1995. Bones and groundwater: towards the modelling of diagenetic processes. J Archaeol Sci 22:155–64.
View in Google Scholar

Henderson J. 1987. Factors determining the state of preservation of human remains. In: A Boddington, AN Garland and RC Janaway, editors. Death, Decay and Reconstruction: Approaches to Archaeology and Forensic Science. Manchester: Manchester University Press. 43–54.
View in Google Scholar

Hindmarch E, Melikian M. 2006. Baldred’s Auldhame: a medieval chapel and cemetery in East Lothian. The Archaeologist 60:37–9.
View in Google Scholar

Holbrook N, Thomas A. 2005. An early medieval monastic cemetery at Llandough, Glamorgan: excavations in 1994. Med Arch XLIX: 1–92.
View in Google Scholar

Ingvarson-Sundström A. 2003. Children Lost and Found: a bioarchaeological Study of Middle Helladic Children in Asine with comparison to Lerna. PhD Thesis, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
View in Google Scholar

Lewis ME. 2010. Life and death in a civitas capital: metabolic disease and trauma in the children from late Roman Dorchester, Dorset. Am J Phys Anthropol 142(3):405–16.
View in Google Scholar

Lewis ME. 2007. The Bioarchaeology of Children. Perspectives from Biological and Forensic Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
View in Google Scholar

Locock M, Currie CK, Gray S. 1992. Chemical changes in buried animal bone: data from a postmedieval assemblages. Int J Osteoarchaeol 2(4):297–304.
View in Google Scholar

Loe LK. 2003. Health and Socio-Economic Status in Early Medieval Wales: An Analysis of Health Indicators and their Socio-Economic Implications in an Early Medieval Human Skeletal Population from the Cemetery Site at Llandough, Glamorgan. PhD Thesis, University of Bristol, Bristol.
View in Google Scholar

Lyman RL. 1996. Vertebrae Taphonomy. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
View in Google Scholar

Nawrocki SP. 1999. Taphonomic processes in historic cemeteries. In: Grauer, AL. Editor Bodies of Evidence: Reconstruction History through Skeletal Analysis. New York, John Wiley. 49–66.
View in Google Scholar

Nicholson RA. 1996. Bone degradation, burial medium and species representation: debucking the myths, an experiment based approach. J Archaeol Sci 23:513–33.
View in Google Scholar

Nielsen-Marsh C. 2000. The chemical degradation of bones. In: Cox M, Mays S, Editors Human Osteology in Archaeology and Forensic Science. London: Greenwich Media. 439–51.
View in Google Scholar

Nord AG, Tronner K, Mattsson E, Borg GCh, Ullén I. 2005. Environmental threats to buried archaeological remains. AMBIO 34(3):256–62.
View in Google Scholar

Maat AK. 1987. Knowledge acquired from post-war exhumations. In: A Boddington, AN Garland and RC Janaway, editors. Death, Decay and Reconstruction: Approaches to Archaeology and Forensic Science. Manchester: Manchester University Press. 65–80.
View in Google Scholar

Manifold BM. 2012. Intrinsic and extrinsic factors involved in the preservation of non-adult skeletal remains in archaeology and forensic science. Bull Int Assoc Paleodont 6(2):51–69.
View in Google Scholar

Manifold BM. 2010. The representation of non-adult skeletal elements recovered from British archaeological sites. Childhood in the Past 3:43–62.
View in Google Scholar

Manifold BM. Forthcoming. Current trends in the study of non-adult skeletal remains in bioarchaeology and forensic science: an analysis of publications 2000–2012.
View in Google Scholar

Manifold BM. Forthcoming. Estimating bone mineral density in non-adult skeletal remains using photodensitometry.
View in Google Scholar

Maynard LM, Guo SS, Chumlea WC, Roche AF, Wisemandle WA, Zeller CM, et al. 1998. Total body and regional bone mineral content and areal bone mineral density in children aged 8–18y: fels longitudinal study. Am J Clin Nutr 68:1111–17.
View in Google Scholar

Mays S. 2010. The Archaeology of Human Bones. London: Routledge.
View in Google Scholar

Mays S. 1991. Papers from bone taphonomy workshop at York, September 1991. Circaea 9(2):54–58.
View in Google Scholar

Malim T, Hines J. 1998. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Edix Hill (Barrington A), Cambridgeshire. Council for British Archaeology report 112. York: Council for British Archaeology.
View in Google Scholar

McEwan JM, Mays S, Blake GM. 2005. The relationship of bone mineral density and growth parameters to stress indicators in a medieval juvenile population. Int J Osteoarchaeol 15:155–63.
View in Google Scholar

Moorrees CFA, Fanning EA, Hunt EE. 1963a. Formation and resorption of three deciduous teeth in children. Am J Phys Anthropol 21:205–13.
View in Google Scholar

Moorrees CFA, Fanning EA, Hunt EE. 1963b. Age variation of formation stages for ten permanent teeth. J Dent Res 42:1490–502.
View in Google Scholar

Morton RJ, Lord W. 2002. Detection and recovery of abducted and murdered children: behavioural and taphonomic influences. In: W Haglund and M Sorg, editors. Advances in Forensic Taphonomy: Methods, Theory and Archaeological Perspectives. New York: CRC Press. 151–71.
View in Google Scholar

Morton RJ, Lord WD. 2006. Taphonomy of child sized remains: a study of scattering and scavenging in Virginia, USA. J Forensic Sci 52(3):475–79.
View in Google Scholar

Rahtz P, Hirst S, Wright SM. 2000. Cannington cemetery. Britannia Monographs Series, No 17.
View in Google Scholar

Roberts CA, Manchester K. 2007. The Archaeology of Disease. New York: Cornell University Press.
View in Google Scholar

Scheuer L, Musgrave JH, Evans SP. 1980. The estimation of late fetal and perinatal age from limb length by linear and longarithmic regression. Ann Hum Biol 7:257–65.
View in Google Scholar

Scheuer L, Maclaughlin-Black S. 1994. Age estimation from the pars basilars of the fetal and juvenile occipital bone. Int J Osteoarchaeol 3:377–80.
View in Google Scholar

Scheuer L, Black S. 2000. Developmental Juvenile Osteology. London: Academic Press.
View in Google Scholar

Scull C. 1997. Comment. In: J Hines Editor. The Anglo-Saxons from the Migration Period in the Eighth Century: An Ethnographic Perpective. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. 164.
View in Google Scholar

Shennan S. 1997. Quantifying Archaeology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
View in Google Scholar

Sundick RI. 1978. Human skeletal growth and age determination. Homo 29:28–49.
View in Google Scholar

Ubelaker D. 1989. Human Skeletal Remains: Excavation, Analysis, Interpretation. Washington DC: Taraxacum,
View in Google Scholar

Von Endt DW, Ortner DJ. 1984. Experiment effects of bone size and temperature on bone diagenesis. J Archaeol Sci 11:247–53.
View in Google Scholar

Waldron T. 1987. The relative survival of the human skeleton: implications for paleopathology. In: Boddington, A, Garland AN, and Janaway RC, editors. Death, Decay and Reconstruction: Approaches to Archaeology and Forensic Science. Manchester: Manchester University Press. 55–64.
View in Google Scholar

Wells C. 1967. Pseudopathology. In: D Brothwell and AT Sandison, editors. Diseases in Antiquity. Springfield Illinois: Thomas. 5–19.
View in Google Scholar

Zapata J, Pérez-Sirvent C, Martinez-Sánchez MJ, Tovar P. 2006. Diagenesis, not biogenesis: two late Roman skeletal examples. Sci Total Environ 369:357–68.
View in Google Scholar

Downloads

Published

2013-06-30

How to Cite

Manifold, B. M. (2013). Differential preservation of children’s bones and teeth recovered from early medieval cemeteries: possible influences for the forensic recovery of non-adult skeletal remains. Anthropological Review, 76(1), 23–49. https://doi.org/10.2478/anre-2013-0007

Issue

Section

Articles