View metadata,citationandsimilarpapersatcore.ac.uk 13 12 11 10 ate Collins Matthew e Hiller Jen ee Marshall Peter ila Taylor Gillian eevd 4Ags 04 cetd 0Jnay20;Rvsd 8Fbur 2005 February 28 Revised: 2005; January 30 Accepted: 2004; August 24 Received: h etr se fSoln lokona h ue erds–cnansm of some contain to Neolithic – the Hebrides from Outer dating Isles, the British as the known in settlements also prehistoric – preserved best Scotland the of Isles Western Hallan The Cladh of site the – Introduction AMS and contextual microstructural, of combination Pearson Parker a Mike that preservation. show tissue soft team to his conducive and of are range which narrow elaborate, a environments to less frozen limited or if usually similar, arid is from mummification performing of finds were Evidence of preservation. Britons series bodily Ancient of remarkable that practices a indicates practising now island were But who Scottish BC). World remote 2200-700 Old a the (c. in Age people Bronze only the the in been mummification have to thought are Egyptians Ancient Pearson Parker Mike Britain Age Bronze in mummification for Evidence vdneo otmre aiuaino oyprs ehp hs rcie eewdsra in widespread Keywords: were practices Age. Uist, these provide Bronze Perhaps South skeletons the parts. the on during body Britain and Hallan of mainland death, manipulation Cladh after mortem from years post Skeletons hundred of several where survive. evidence buried climates normally were wetter not Scotland and Isles, do temperate Western fabrics more and in mummification tissues of soft identification the allows bone antiquity 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 TrVraa,VadlaRcraSinic ,013Rm,Italy Roma, 00133 1, Scientifica Ricerca della Via Vergata”, “Tor adf,UK Cardiff, eerhLbrtr o rhelg h itr fAt el od xodO13J UK 3QJ, UK OX1 Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Newcastle, Oxford of Road, University Keble Engineering, 6 909, Civil Art, & of Box Geosciences History PO of the Department UK & Cardiff, 1DP, BD7 Archaeology of Bradford for Bradford, University Laboratory of Research University Science, Sciences, Vision Archaeological of and Department Optometry of School Group, Biophysics Structural eateto rlPtooy nvriyo hfed hfed 1 T,UK 2TN, S10 UK Sheffield, 0QF, Sheffield, G75 of Kilbride University East Pathology, Avenue, Oral UK 7EP, Rankine of YO1 Centre, York, Department Reactor Manor, King’s and York, Research of UK Universities University 5GG, Scottish Archaeology, NG12 and Nottingham M.Parker- Biology Keyworth, Survey, of Geological Departments British UK (Email: Laboratory, UK Bournemouth, Geosciences Cardiff, Bournemouth, Isotope 909, of NERC Box UK University PO Sciences, Cardiff, Conservation of 4ET, of University School Archaeology, and S1 History UK 4ET, of S1 School Universit Sheffield Sheffield Biologia, Sheffield, di of Dipartimento University antico, ARCUS, Sheffield, DNA del studio of lo per molecolare antropologia University di Centro Archaeology, Pearson@sheffield.ac.uk) of Department 9(05:529–546 (2005): 79 rneAe rti,bra rcie mummification practice, burial Britain, Age, Bronze 10 ae Montgomery Janet , 13 3 aqiMulville Jacqui , ioh Wess Timothy & 7 odnCook Gordon , 1 nrwChamberlain Andrew , 4 11 ee Smith Helen , 8 10 enLcSchwenninger Jean-Luc , 529 efryCraig Geoffrey , 1 ,OliverCraig 5 aoy Chenery Carolyn , 9 ,JaneEvans provided byTeesideUniversity'sResearchRepository 12 2 14 , , nlssof analysis C 6 brought toyouby adiRoma ` , 6 , CORE Research Mummification in Bronze Age Britain

Figure 1. The distribution of Late Bronze Age sites in the southern islands of the Outer Hebrides. the Iron Age (Armit 1996; Parker Pearson et al. 2004). Perhaps the best known of these prehistoric remains are the brochs, stone-walled Iron Age roundhouses, some of which stood over 10m high (Parker Pearson et al. 1996). Until recently, little was known of the period before the brochs but archaeological excavations at Cladh Hallan on the island of South Uist (Figure 1) have uncovered an unusually well preserved group of Late Bronze Age to Iron Age roundhouses (c. 1100-200 BC). The prehistoric settlement’s main feature is a row of four or more roundhouses (Figures 2 and 3), all built as a single structure with party walls (Pitts 2002: 455; Barber 2003: 174-5; Bewley 2003: 90-3; Parker Pearson et al. 2004: 64-82). The houses were constructed as sunken-floored buildings, dug into the calcareous sand (known as machair sand) up to 1m below ground level. The northernmost three of these houses were fully excavated; the fourth and possibly further houses to their south remain

530 iue2 ld alndrn xaaini 00 enfo h north. the from seen 2000, in excavation during Hallan Cladh 2. Figure specntuto feig,wihas aeeiec o h ro umfiainand mummification prior the construed for burials, evidence these bodies. in is the gave It placed of also down. were curation laid which (2792), were offerings, sand houses peaty southern pre-construction of and as floors (Fig- (2727) first child the central before one the ground of in the 401) burial children the (House the 801) house (House and central house 2638) the southern in the child, in a 4) and ure and dogs, adults two two and child of (House a burials house the north the found Within were mound. settlement 1370) the of half southern the within preserved . oro hs uil,tetoaut ntenrhhue( eae 63adamale, a and 2613 female, (a house north the in adults two the burials, these of Four .Pre Pearson Parker M. 531 tal. et

Research Mummification in Bronze Age Britain

Figure 3. Plan of the row of three roundhouses at Cladh Hallan, with the positions of the four foundation burials. The outlying house to the north-east was built in the later first millennium BC.

The floors of the middle and north roundhouses were unusual in that they consisted of sequences of multiple floor layers interspersed with make-up fills. Whereas the southern roundhouse had filled up with windblown sand on top of its initial floor, the middle round house had eight successive floors with a total depth of 1.3m. This continuous occupation and renovation spanned a period of almost a thousand years from c. 1100 BC to c. 200 BC, making it an unusually long-lived building. In the north house, the formation and use of two successive floors were followed by a brief period of abandonment (marked by windblown sand) and then the laying of a third floor (accompanied by a re-foundation burial of an infant). The infant was buried at the founding of the north house’s third phase of occupation whilst the two dogs, one of them decapitated, were buried beneath the middle house’s fourth floor (Figure 4).

532 ntp ntecs fteautml uil(68,soe rmti ufc ragmn had layer arrangement floor surface this the from by stones covered (2638), largely burial were male adult and the burial of the case 2613, of the arranged In were nos back top. stones the 4; the on around 6), (Figure Figure arc (2613; roundhouses protective female three adult a the the in of of case the floors In 2792). house 2727, lowest 2638, the within stones large (Barber Uist South and of of end quadrant four north north-east the into 2002). the at Point Barber cut beneath Hornish 1989; found burial, at was roundhouse human pits, Age Iron floor small a subsequent Early the Similarly, four an the within in houses. quadrant by bones same north animal replicated the with and in also buried middle dogs was two the and but of infant see 10c) the sequences 5; of 1. (Figure burials began fig. association Age) excavation Bronze This 1999: before were(Late quadrants. Sharples predicted burials north-east only & four the not Pearson the was – has Parker of north-east roundhouses erected, the Three the the with were reasons. of that death roundhouses several area of possibility for the specific The unlikely before a construction. highly long in is house cemetery, located but of a considered of moment be part the to as at buried burial were of unequivocally bodies not – but – be suggestive strongly to are situated proven relationships are stratigraphic they whose which pits in within roundhouses the lay to burials foundation four the of skeletons The burials the of contexts stratigraphic roundhouses. The three the within burials dog and human of locations The 4. Figure h oiin falfu onainbraswr akdb nomlarneet of arrangements informal by marked were burials foundation four all of positions The .Pre Pearson Parker M. 533 tal. et tal et .

Research Mummification in Bronze Age Britain

slumped into the top of the grave fill (Figure 7 shows the burial after removal of stones). This is consistent with settling shortly after burial and provides good evidence that the grave was dug from the floor of the house (had it been dug much earlier than the house’s construction then post-burial settling would have occurred long before the stones were placed on top and they would not have slumped into the grave). The burial pits of the adult skeletons showed no signs of their having been truncated by the digging down of the sunken house floors. The stratigraphic sequence thus shows that the circular, flat-bottomed, sunken- floored roundhouses were constructed as a single unit, the burials being inserted from the level of the floor, after the primary wall core of sand had been constructed out of the sandy soil dug out to create this sunken area, and prior to the laying of a thin floor layer of peaty sand.

Evidence for mummification Figure 5. The predictive model of roundhouse use, drawn in 1996 ( from Parker Pearson & Sharples 1999: fig. 1.6). The two skeletons under the primary floor of the north house (2613 and 2638; Figure 4) were buried in very tightly flexed postures as if they had been bound or wrapped, reminiscent of ‘mummy bundles’ from South America and other parts of the world. Their knees were close to their chests and their femurs and lower leg bones were aligned in almost parallel positions. Someone had also handled the remains long after death, making certain alterations to the bodies. The woman’s skeleton (2613; Figure 6) had a full set of teeth except for her two upper lateral incisors which had been removed from her jaw and placed in her hands. The left tooth was placed in her left hand by her head and the right tooth was in her right hand below her knee. Absence of trauma on the two teeth or their sockets suggests that they were removed at some time after death. The male skeleton (2638; Figure 7) was actually composed of bones from three different individuals – the post-cranial skeleton belonged to one man, the head and cervical vertebrae to another and the mandible came from a third. There is no evidence that later material was inserted into an earlier grave; on excavation all skeletal elements appeared in fact to be articulated (see Figure 7). The good definition of layers and boundaries within the machair sand makes it likely that any disturbance or recutting of the pit in antiquity would have been noted during excavation.

534 o oetm fe hi ets u o ol edvlpamto o nigout were finding There for death? after method long a tissue develop soft by we together could held approaches: how been available had But three bones deaths. dry the their the under after whether girl) time a some (probably for child year-old 10-14 a and modification of pelvis (2727). mortem skeleton post house the of middle crouched for evidence no except loosely with disarticulated the burials four entirely was these was of it one only death; The after vertebrae. time some burial, buried of been time sockets. the maxilla incisor by the the worn of of a well surface facets with the evidently vertical of individual the was erosion exposed second skull context: had above-ground a The an jaw. to in upper belonged surfaces abrasion his from occlusal originally presumably in the had on teeth it deposits mandible of that calculus set the of indicates full Although lack further death. the teeth skull, before premolars its the years for and of many fit missing. molars good trauma entirely upper the reasonably or were the a – mortem, jaw decay was post dentitions upper through out the incompatible lost fallen of by been had those had and teeth whereas front spine teeth upper the of the of set Whilst rest full a the sported on mandible not but vertebrae cervical iue6 h dl eaeskeleton. female adult The 6. Figure r eewr nrgigidctosta he ftefu oismgthv enpreserved been have might bodies four the of three that indications intriguing were Here have to appeared also (2792) house south the beneath skeleton child’s year-old 3 The the on osteoarthritis of presence the by revealed were incompatibilities skeletal These oetbihwehrtedt fdahwssgicnl eoetedt fdpsto of deposition of date the before significantly was death bodies; of the date the whether establish To .Pre Pearson Parker M. 535 tal. et

Research Mummification in Bronze Age Britain

Figure 7. The composite adult male skeleton. r To determine from the degree of microbial attack on the bones whether soft tissue decay had been arrested after death; and r To find out if there was any trace of pre-depositional modification of the bones which may indicate the methods of soft tissue preservation that had been employed.

Dating of the skeletons and their contexts of deposition Comparison of the dates of the adults’ and 3 year-old’s deaths with their dates of burial provides an indication of the length of the post mortem period during which the three sets of remains were curated. We had expected this period to be too short to be measurable by AMS 14C or OSL methods but the results were surprisingly informative. The moment

536 C U94)adasneo otmre nefrne ohv idjs eoeher before just died have to interference, mortem post (2845 of date absence burial. radiocarbon and her of years, GU-9840) middle the some basis beneath BC; died buried the probably child on child year-old 10-14 this appears, The and burial. roundhouse difference should before a it century a make than even earlier to or appear enough decades to not death probably of is date it child’s be, the cause conceivably could this Whilst seblw,tesal irgn(seilythose (especially nitrogen terrestrial primarily stable were diets the human below), the Whilst (see 1). (Table reliable otherwise are collagens ordrcl ntpo adteeoeltrta)tebras hydt o16-7 a BC cal 1260-970 to house’s date Two They north burials. BC. the the 1250-630 than) within later period grains therefore (2915 the the (and barley of within of top carbonised fall on base from directly These the floor obtained 1). to (Table were applied walls dates (OSL) shared radiocarbon the one luminescence stratigraphically of stimulated are core optically foundations sand by house three dated (all was complex event) house the for foundation of eido et iia ota ftewmnbre eet h ot os.Hwvr its However, house. north the beneath and a buried giving woman tibia, BC, the cal his of 1440-1130 that for enriched to to dates BC similar house death south cal of the 1620-1410 period beneath buried skeleton only), disarticulated child largely 3-year-old 1500- date the the from skull, man’s femur (single of The the femur. woman’s mandible the for for the BC BC cal cal for 1370-1050 1500-1260 BC anomalous of dates twice. cal the sampled combined were Given 1210 give femur woman’s earlier. samples the appreciably of and tibia pairs are and The skull man’s house the north burials, these the of nature beneath cent burial per male 68 (at adult years 0-60 at estimated is roundhouses burials (at the the BC of overlie construction cal that the floors probability). 1100-930 between the at of time estimated laying of the is of length and end The floor) The probability). the probability). cent start of cent per the agreement construction per 68 for 68 by good (at estimate (marked shows BC an activity 8) cal provides burial 1330-1100 (Figure and of model construction measurements, roundhouse The OSL of 2000). and Rom radiocarbon the & Monte between Steier Chain 2000; Markov 1998, of form 1995, (Gilks v3.5 a radiocarbon the OxCal using and with of AMS sampling OSL dates construction, and Carlo the the roundhouse combine of OSL and estimates to provide the burials possible to is foundation then relationships It probability) stratigraphic BC. case, cent their cal per with the 95 840 measurements (at and is individuals BC all individuals this cal for these 1260 burial If that between of date buried. suggesting likely 288). dates, when a OSL 137, indicate deceased determinations the 1999: as recently Sharples range & only same Pearson were the Parker within 1994; are Smith dates Ballin These remains 21; human containing 1948: a frequently of and 1944, structure Scotland (Curle foundation Atlantic probable Age a Iron is from feature known well latter was type This which core. cist wall stone the long under a within sealed buried partially (GU-9844) fragment scapula human adult an from epcal those (especially eemntoso the of Determinations ncnrs otedtsfriiilcntuto fterudoss h ae o the for dates the roundhouses, the of construction initial for dates the to contrast In and (GU-9840) skeleton child’s undisturbed the from obtained were dates Radiocarbon − + 0bp;G-04)ad19-10clB (3000 BC cal 1390-1110 and GU-10647) b.p.; 40 δ 13 au Tbe1 niae lgtyehne aiecmoett h diet. the to component marine enhanced slightly a indicates 1) (Table value C > − 20 ‰ niaeta ml aiecmoetcno erldout ruled be cannot component marine small a that indicate ) δ 13 n / aisidct httedtso ua bone human on dates the that indicate ratios C/N and C .Pre Pearson Parker M. tal et 537 96 efn mt 90 rn Ramsey Bronk 1990; Smith & Gelfand 1996; . tal. et > + 10 ‰ − + n abniooeratios isotope carbon and ) 0bp;GU-10648). b.p.; 40 − + 0bp,19-4 cal 1190-840 b.p., 50

Research Mummification in Bronze Age Britain )ratio ‰ N( 15 ode). OSL samples were δ ) ‰ 21.019.1 N/A 5.9 N/A N/A 25.022.7 N/A20.0 N/A19.9 N/A 19.9 10.819.9 N/A N/A20.1 10.819.5 3.4 9.918.2 N/A N/A 3.3 11.418.8 N/A 3.1 N/A 2.8 8.6 N/A N/A 22.2 10.6 N/A C( − − − − − − − − − − − − − 13 δ 40 BP 1290 BC to 1000BC 55 BP 1260 BC210 to 890 BC 1220 BC to 800 BC 210 1200 BC to 780 BC 310 1250 BC to 630 BC 40 BP 1260 BC to 970 BC 40 BP 1390 BC50 to BP 1110 BC 55 BP 1500 BC50 to BP 1210 BC 1520 BC55 to BP 1260 BC 1500 BC60 to BP 1210 BC 1740 BC55 to BP 1440 BC 1600 BC35 to BP 1260 BC 1420 BC to 1110 BC 1300 BC50 to BP 1020 BC 1440 BC to 1130 BC 50 BP 1190 BC to 840 BC Cage 14 + − + − + − + − + − + − + − + − + − + − + − + − + − + − + − + − years BP) Calibrated age C/N ( AMS not analysed. = (repeat of AA-49343) (in foundation cist) grain) North house grain) North house (repeat of AA-48599) 10-14 year-old Femur AA-52514 (GU-10490) 2940 Adult scapula fragmentHouse foundation (OSL) middle house CLH02-16 AA-48602 (GU-9844) 2865 3010 House foundation (OSL) south house CLH02-12 2990 House foundation (OSL) north house CLH03-01 2940 Initial occupation (carbonised barley AA-53173 (GU-10647) 2915 Adult male skull (repeat ofAdult AA-48606) male mandibleAdult male tibia AA-52379Adult (GU-10491) male tibia (repeat ofAdult AA-48597) female femur 3135 Adult female femur AA-52378 (GU-10488) 3155 AA-48598 (GU-9838) 3105 AA-48597 (GU-9837) AA-48599 (GU-9839) AA-52513 3305 (GU-10489) 3025 2950 Initial occupation (carbonised barleyAdult male skull AA-53174 (GU-10648) 3000 3 year-old femur AA-48606 (GU-9854) 3105 AA-48600 (GU-9841) 3070 Dated Event Sample code or OSL age range Table 1. Dating of Cladh Hallan burials and their contexts 10-14 year-old Femur AA-49343 (GU-9840) 2845 Calibrated using OxCal version 3.8. N/A Radiocarbon samples were prepared atdated the at the SUERC Research radiocarbon Laboratory dating for laboratory Archaeology (GU-code) and the and History measured of at Art, the University of University Oxford. of Arizona AMS facility (AA-c

538 ae fntaltremnrpeetdi h kltn idcnuisbfr uil most burial, before BC. centuries 1500 died as skeleton, early as the probably post-cranial in the and represented that BC probable 1350 men highly before is three likely It all cent. per not and 95 if at cranial years male, the 50 of date of mandible’s woman’s overlap death the although short the the burial, a of subsequent between indicates his dates overlap and the no male the between is of There probability components post-cranial burial. cent ( subsequent per degree her 95 any and at to death overlap dates some the is affected There have 2000). to unlikely is this However, entirely. For time. calibration particular radiocarbon a simple of at result occurs the is event which an outline that in one probability plotted: relative (Stuiver been have the curve distributions represents atmospheric two the distribution date, using radiocarbon Each (calibrated each Hallan (1998)). Cladh al. from dates et OSL Stuiver and radiocarbon of of distributions Probability 8. Figure ersne ytemnil,adte1-4ya-l hl aigbe asdi h Western the in raised The been 2). (Table having Scotland child of year-old Isles 10-14 man the the and woman, mandible, the the with by consistent represented all are compositions isotope oxygen and lead Strontium, residence and Diet osrcinsatdo h ie h ag qaebakt ontelf-adsd n h xa ewrsdfieteoverall the house define when keywords date OxCal the the and for side estimate left-hand density the posterior down brackets the square is large exactly. start’ The model ‘Boundary site. distribution the the on started example construction For model. the of aspects ihS ocnrtosi hi ot nmlwih ihnU tde,i etr ofar so feature a is studies, UK (Montgomery Isles within Western which, the enamel obtained in tooth only previously recorded their field in main concentrations the Sr within (Montgomeryhigh plots Lewis and from signature individuals seawater for a by dominated is & emr19) n oi n ae ntecrnlgclmdlue.Teohrdsrbtoscrepn to correspond distributions other The used. model chronological the on based one solid a and 1993), Reimer 87 Sr/ .Pre Pearson Parker M. 86 riooecmoiino h kltn’tohenamel tooth skeletons’ the of composition isotope Sr tal et 539 03.Tetoppltosaelne by linked are populations two The 2003). . tal et tal. et 2003). . cf Barrett . tal et .

Research Mummification in Bronze Age Britain

Pb Oxygen isotope compositions calculated for 204 for full drinking water (Levinson et al. 1987) for ‰ Pb/ the three individuals’ second molars are 28 208 .

. (1994) + + 0 between −5.4 − 0.6 and −6.6 − 0.5 with + − + 2 − et al . a mean of 5.92 − 0.58. The values for the Pb 16

204 two canines (from the woman and the 10- =

2 −

Pb/ 14 year-old) are slightly higher at 3.72 ×

207 and −4.89 with a mean of −4.31 −+ 0.8. The somewhat elevated ratios for these

Pb earlier formed teeth are consistent with 204 a trophic level shift which occurs during Pb/

206 breastfeeding. The drinking water averages for both molars and canines (−5.28) are consistent with modern-day drinking water from the Western Isles (Darling et al. 2003). Pb ppm Finally, Pb isotopes from the tooth enamel are relatively unradiogenic and are 1.2 0.03 18.21 15.41 39.92 0.7 0.06 18.40 15.50 39.19 0.5 0.02 17.61 15.50 37.97 0.5 0.02 18.11 15.47 39.22 0.6 0.02 17.83 15.42 39.32 c dw

0.004%. consistent with a contribution from ancient + − + − + − + − + − O (2003). Oxygen isotope methods after O’Neil + − 18

δ crust such as the Lewisian gneiss which is 5.8 4.9 6.6 3.7 5.4 − − − − − et al. the bedrock of the Outer Hebridean islands. The very low Pb concentrations (<1ppm) 0.6 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.3 b p are typical of individuals who predate the O + − + − + − + − + − .’s (1987) calibration). In-house reference material enamel – M 18 use of metal artefacts (Montgomery et al. δ et al 2005). In summary, all the above evidence Sr ratio are estimated at 86 points to these three individuals having been a Sr/ Sr 87 native Outer Hebrideans. 86 Sr/ using Levinson 87

dw Diagenetic analysis of the bones O 18 δ Evidence for arrested bacterial activity to p

O The discrepancy in dates of the two adult 18 δ skeletons in comparison to their date of deposition and the evidence of post LC1 223 0.709354 17.7 RC1 217 0.709619 17.2 Tooth mortem manipulation raise the possibility of bodily preservation above ground for a long period before interment. The tightly crouched ‘mummy bundle’ posture of the two skeletons also provides further circumstantial evidence for deliberate mummification. What was now needed was a suite of methods to analyse the skeletal

Sr normalised to an NBS 987 value of 0.710240. 2-sigma errors on evidence in order to establish whether or not 86

Sr/ soft tissue preservation occurred and how Average bone phosphate oxygen. Average drinking water oxygen (conversion from CHO1-2727 10-14 year-old LM2 201 0.709588 16.7 CHO1-2638 Adult male LM2 299 0.709264 16.4 procedure during sample analysis. Table 2. Strontium andskeletons. lead Details isotope of ratios analytical and techniques concentrations, for and Sr oxygen and isotope Pb ratios are and given drinking in water Montgomery values for three of the Cladh Hallan CHO1-2316 Adult female LM2a87 295b c 0.709276 16.9 Sample No. Age/ sex type Sr ppm that tissue might have been preserved.

540 rv sa nrcse acs,tetaetr fdcyi h a’ otcailskeleton its post-cranial in man’s rotted the death. in have after decay to soon of point appears some trajectory dog at much the the curtailed also carcass, was Whereas was unprocessed death. the tibia an after in human as extreme soon the grave less arrested for was was sizes decomposition volume microbial pore and the that in human period, interpretation range same the The the supports half. approximately This than less. of less and was depth porosity same of the articulated at an buried sample, control skeleton the dog with comparison In unusual. was porosity microbial tibia’s (Turner-Walker the analysis (HgIP) to porosimetry internal region interrupted. there then diffuse that was indicating more which restricted, decay and a initial intense and both some is was surface pattern The periosteal 9). (Figure the surface lamellar endosteal on the by between bone observed junction was Haversian the at femur and attack male blood microbial adult the (budded) the via dense in with mortem microscopy, alteration post light microbial bone of the pattern entering unusual bacteria An gut supply. collagenolytic Bell by by caused work is earlier attack upon observation based this argument, From remains. an animal develop butchered they in common less much is and corpses buried eoa fteitra raswihcnanms ftebcei htiiit ea.We investigate decay. to initiate skeleton post-cranial that male decay. bacteria the of of the bone process the of the examining most by this contain for entails test which this to eviscerated; organs decided be internal must body the the tanning effective, of could most heat-drying, – removal be wind-drying, skin to by methods the example and these perhaps for For ways, and attachments pickling. of or ligaments muscle number the a the least in at preserved once 2001). – been disarticulate have tissues Pearson soft and Parker The collapse & rotted. have merely (Chamberlain ligaments will tissue body soft wrapped of A preservation some requires climate ih rgt.Uulytedcypoesi oeetniei ul urfidcorpse. putrefied fully a in extensive polarised more under birefringence is of process loss and decay staining approximately the dark alteration, by Usually microbial indicated (right). of is commencement attack light the microbial showing The femur, surface. male periosteal Hallan the Cladh below the 0.5mm through section A 9. Figure ute vdnefrrsrce irba takwsotie sn ecr intrusion mercury using obtained was attack microbial restricted for evidence Further Turner-Walker temperate a in more or century a for articulated fully skeleton post-cranial a keep To tal et 20)hv bevdta irba ooiyi yia fintact of typical is porosity microbial that observed have (2002) . .Pre Pearson Parker M. 541 tal et 02.Ti eeldta h dl male adult the that revealed This 2002). . tal. et tal et 19) htti microbial this that (1996), .

Research Mummification in Bronze Age Britain

Evidence for the method of soft-tissue preservation

Following evisceration, the soft tissues must have been treated to facilitate their long-term preservation. Our initial expectation was that this would have been achieved by slowly smoking the corpse over a fire, similar to examples recorded in ethnohistorical reports for the Heiltsuk (Bella Bella) of British Columbia (Harkin 1990). However, when the alterations in the bone mineral were examined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR spectroscopy), it was noticed that the outer section (3mm from the periosteal surface) of the adult male tibia was considerably more altered than the inner section. Mineral alteration of the bone’s surface is unusual for bones deposited within the calcareous shell sand of the machair and this alteration is most likely to have occurred prior to deposition in the alkaline machair sand. Whether or not the body was smoked, it was certainly subjected to treatment which caused demineralisation in the bone’s surface layers. The anomalies detected by FTIR spectroscopy were refined by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) (Hiller et al. in prep.). Like FTIR spectroscopy, this technique reveals the degree of mineral alteration. However, unlike FTIR, SAXS provides information on the actual dimensions of bone mineral crystallites. In fresh, unaltered human bone, these crystallites are normally 3 to 4nm thick in the smallest dimension, and cannot grow larger than 5nm in non-pathological bone owing to spatial limitation in the bone structure. In the adult human male tibia, the bone crystallites were almost all larger than 5nm, with the thinnest crystallites in the very centre of the bone and the thickest (up to 7nm) at the outer surfaces. These thickness values are not normally observed in non-pathological bone. Nor is the pattern consistent with that of normal post mortem microbial alteration. The results of SAXS were particularly revealing, suggesting that the most extreme mineral alteration lay at or close to the outer edges, but also that the microscopically unaltered bone had suffered slight demineralisation. The U-shaped pattern of alteration is reminiscent of a diffusion- controlled process (cf. Hedges & Millard 1995). The shape of crystallites, normally very uniform within an unaltered bone section, showed some evidence of more heterogeneous distribution, particularly in the bacterially damaged areas. A likely explanation for the pattern of re-crystallisation of the adult male post-cranial skeleton is that it was exposed to an acidic environment for a short amount of time. This must have happened at some point before burial since the remains were found below house floors (and therefore protected from acidic rainwater) within grave fills that are alkaline (with a pH value of 7.2; calcareous machair sand and topsoil are normally within the pH ranges of 7.5-8.0 and 6.5-7.5 respectively (Hudson 1991)). One possibility is the corpse had been preserved in an acid peat bog; prehistoric bog bodies are relatively common in Britain, Ireland and Europe (Turner & Scaife 1995; van der Sanden 1996). People are likely to have been aware of peat’s preservative properties, and timbers and other organic remains from earlier periods would have been found whilst digging peats for fuel, as they still are today. Peat was being extracted for fuel from deep cuttings at precisely this time in the Middle Bronze Age on these Hebridean islands (Branigan et al. 2002), and experiments on the preservation of piglets (as substitutes for human corpses!) in acid bogs have produced adequate mummification after half a year or so of submersion (Gill-Robinson 1999 pers. comm.).

542 n e eto rti’ elti n rneAeatcltdseeos n obodily so and skeletons, 2004). (McIntyre articulated rite about minority Age a only Bronze been form have and manipulation ever Neolithic only mortem Britain’s may post preservation of unusual cent ‘mummy of per with forms British Skeletons one other and 101-3). or 1993: Hebridean preservation Pearson the postures alone Parker let in bundle’ 313-22, burial, rite 1980: ordinary given (Burgess minority were death people a few after been very so have and to Age Bronze seems Middle – cremation to contrast ossmyrpeetafnaetlrlgostasomto niln iewe h old the the when of life one island least in at transformation beneath religious deposits fundamental foundation a as represent bodies may preserved houses of burial of moment onhue hc akdasgicn hnefo h ml n peea ossof houses ephemeral and small imposing Pearson the and (Parker from Age solid Bronze when change the Earlier BC significant the within 1100 a buried around marked deliberately Hallan and which were settlements Cladh roundhouses dead houses, at with ancestral evident filled particularly mummified, living’ is these the change of This ‘landscapes systems. barrows by – field dead replaced the were of places – past, the cairns prehistoric by Britain’s of dominated and in notions landscapes when period developing for BC, transformative these 1000 evidence and a with 1600 new also well between was this in This fits and death. Age Neolithic after Bronze individuality the Middle of the in ancestries preservation collective bodily the than important personified, more past traditions. the ancient were of They guardians the living. form, preserved the embodied over their importantly, in watch these more ancestors to secured perhaps the which available but, have innovation been afterworld well have developed the would might locally in bodies Mummification place a resources. a to people local points dead available nothing select but has of America, Age use South Bronze best or British made Egypt the with in preservation do bodily to identifying of significance burials The Hallan Cladh the of implications The 112-13), 2003: (Green ‘reminiscent (Smith Farm were Dorchester local and Down or other 223) include bodies 1976: be ‘trussed’ examples (Simpson Tallington may were Published these comm.) bundles”’. that pers. “mummy flexed excavators tightly Cowie of whose the (T. number to a Lewis include suggested of Britain postures mainland Isle from the burials Age on Bronze examples. Barvas at Hornish midden the Isles, Age Western the (Barber From bodies, boy preserved. human artificially Point other were how skeletons, ‘mummy and a as whether developing only investigating to surviving for way methodology the a pointed – has kit’ skeletons identification Hallan Cladh the into research The Middle British Age? the Bronze in widespread preservation tissue soft Was 97 h oetcto frta ie(rde 98 4-4 Br 147-64; Oswald 1998: (Bradley 1999; life 1996, ritual Pearson of Parker domestication 1996; the Hill architecture replaced – domestic 1995; being 1997) in now Hingley was manifested 1997; ancestors were the 1994, which of (Fitzpatrick concerns respectful power cosmological and the and formal If a living. ideological of the by suggestive of is world house the north from the removal under interred were skeletons adult rmtebgnigo h rts rneAe niiulacsosse ohv become have to seem ancestors individual Age, Bronze British the of beginning the From tal et 99 n ihl ee uilisre noa al Bronze Early an into inserted burial flexed tightly a and 1989) . .Pre Pearson Parker M. tal et 04 8 14.Tecr ihwihtetwo the which with care The 61-4). 48, 2004: . 543 tal. et tal et 97 8.Ihmto in – Inhumation 78). 1997: . c 99 hnthis then – 1999) uck ¨

Research Mummification in Bronze Age Britain beliefs gave way to the new, not through their total rejection but by their incorporation into the very foundations of the new. Mummies continue to fascinate. We may be looking at the tip of the iceberg, failing to realise that artificial mummification was far more widespread in prehistoric societies than hitherto realised. The implications of the Cladh Hallan discovery are not simply that British Bronze Age funerary practices were more drawn out and sophisticated than previously thought. It also makes us realise that these prehistoric people had well-developed concepts of long-term ancestry and ‘history’, embodied literally in the people of an ancient past. Until we develop methods and means of dating the moment of burial as potentially different from the moment of death and of identifying the arrest of tissue decay and how it was done, we will continue to underestimate these important aspects of Bronze Age life and death.

Acknowledgements We wish to thank Historic Scotland for funding the Cladh Hallan project and October Films and the BBC for part-funding this aspect of the project, principally the mercury porosimetry, stable isotope analysis and FTIR analysis. Permission for excavation was given by South Uist Estates and Uist Builders Construction whilst the South Uist Historical Society was supportive of the project. We also thank the many volunteers and students of Sheffield University, Bournemouth University, Cardiff University, Southampton University and King Alfred’s College, Winchester, who have worked on the project, particularly the team of 2001 who excavated the skeletons. Without their hard work we would never have reached the lowest layers of the site! Figures 1 and 4 were drawn by Irene de Luis. Figure 3 was drawn by Ian Dennis, Figure 5 was drawn by Adrian Chadwick, and Figure 1 was redrawn by the McDonald Institute. JH and TW are grateful for the support of J. Weir in data collection on the NanoSTAR apparatus, and acknowledge the support of SHEFC and Biodermis Ltd, under the Joint Research Equipment Initiative, for the purchase of the NanoSTAR.

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