A Multidisciplinary Study of a Burnt and Mutilated Assemblage of Human Remains from a Deserted Mediaeval Village in England

JASREP-00837; No of Pages 15 Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2017) xxx–xxx

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A multidisciplinary study of a burnt and mutilated assemblage of human remains from a deserted Mediaeval village in England

S. Mays a,b,c,⁎, R. Fryer b, A.W.G. Pike b, M.J. Cooper d,P.Marshalla a Research Department, Historic England, United Kingdom b Archaeology Department, University of Southampton, UK c School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, UK d Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, UK article info abstract

Article history: This work is a study of an assemblage of disarticulated human skeletal remains from a pit on the Mediaeval village Received 30 November 2016 site of Wharram Percy, England. The remains show evidence of perimortal breakage, burning and tool marks. The Received in revised form 13 February 2017 purpose of the study is to attempt to shed light on the human activity that might have produced the assemblage. Accepted 20 February 2017 The remains are subject to radiocarbon dating, strontium isotope analysis, and gross and microscopic osteological Available online xxxx examination. The assemblage comprises 137 bones representing the substantially incomplete remains of a minimum of ten individuals, ranging in age from 2‐4yrstoN50 yrs at death. Both sexes are represented. Seventeen Keywords: ﬁ Radiocarbon bones show a total of 76 perimortem sharp-force marks (mainly knife-marks); these marks are con ned to the Strontium isotope upper body parts. A minimum of 17 bones show evidence for low-temperature burning, and 6 long-bones Knife marks show perimortem breakage. The radiocarbon dates centre on ca. 11th–13th century CE, and the remains repre- Burning sent the residua of more than one event. Strontium isotopic analyses of dental enamel are consistent with a Wharram Percy local origin. Possible behaviours that may have produced the assemblage include starvation cannibalism and apo- Revenant corpses tropaic efforts to lay revenant corpses. Cannibalism © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

1. Introduction The human remains that are the focus of the current work come not from the churchyard, but from a domestic context toward the southern This paper is a study of an assemblage of disarticulated human skel- end of the western row of buildings, situated on the plateau. They were etal remains from a Mediaeval settlement site in England. The remains recovered in 1963–4 from a location now known as Site 12 (Fig. 1), but show evidence of perimortem tool marks, burning and breakage. The formerly known as Area 6 (Milne, 1979). The prime purpose of excava- work uses osteological study, isotopic analysis and radiocarbon dating tion in this area was to investigate an earthwork that appeared to repre- in an attempt to shed light upon the human behaviour that might sent the remains of a large long-house. The human remains that are the have produced the assemblage. subject of the current study come from features comprising three intercutting, approximately square pits. This pit-complex consists of a fl 2. Material central pit about 2.1 m wide, anked to the east and west by two smaller ones each about 1 m wide. The depth of the westernmost pit was 0.3 m, The study material comes from Wharram Percy, a deserted Mediae- the depth of the other two is not recorded. The central pit appears to be val village in North Yorkshire, England (Fig. 1). Wharram Percy was a cut by the westernmost one but its relationship with the other is un- small, low-status rural agrarian settlement, and in the Mediaeval period clear. The pit complex lay immediately to the south-west of the long- it consisted of two facing rows of dwellings orientated approximately house (which was 15th century in date), but predated its construction. north–south. The shorter eastern row lay in a valley, together with the During excavation, all remains were hand-recovered; there was no siev- church and its churchyard. The longer western row lay on a 10–15 m ing to retrieve small bones. The pit-complex was not excavated high plateau, separated from the eastern buildings by a steep escarp- stratigraphically, but rather numbers were assigned to finds trays as ment (Beresford and Hurst, 1990). Archaeological excavations have they entered post-excavation processing. The human remains were taken place both in the church/churchyard and in areas of domestic oc- disarticulated when found and bear seven different finds numbers. cupation (Marlow-Mann and Wrathmell, 2012). These numbers show a relationship to the vertical or horizontal location within the pit-complex. However, upon examination of the skeletal re- ⁎ Corresponding author at: Research Department, Historic England, United Kingdom. mains, it became clear that conjoins existed between fragments bearing E-mail address: [email protected] (S. Mays). all seven finds codes. Therefore, for analytical purposes, the human

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.02.023 2352-409X/© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Fig. 1. Location map. remains are treated as a single group. The site report (Milne, 1979) comparison with growth curves constructed for the churchyard burials noted that the pits contained a mixture of Roman and early Mediaeval which have been aged using dental development (Mays, 2007: Table pottery, and it is therefore likely that the fills represent reworked de- 26). In adult remains, age was estimated from dental wear, and sex posits. The existence of conjoins between human remains from different from cranial and pelvic morphology using identical methods to those locations in the pit-complex supports this. The nature of the site records applied to the churchyard remains (Mays, 2007:85).Forthemorecom- means that it is now unclear what finds (other than pottery), if any, plete adult mandibles, measurements were taken (Mays, 2007:131n), came from these features, and it is not possible to confirm that the and discriminant functions were generated using mandibles from human remains in the site archive comprise all of those that were recov- churchyard burials whose sex could be determined from pelvic indica- ered. The publication on the site (Milne, 1979)containsnoosteological tors. Both these, and morphological features (Brothwell, 1981: 61), report and mentions no anthropogenic modification to the skeletal re- were used to determine sex, which was only assigned to a mandible mains. The interpretation offered was that the remains were Romano- when the two methods were in agreement. British burials inadvertantly disturbed and reburied by villagers in late Upon initial examination, it was clear that some of the bones showed Mediaeval times (Milne, 1979: 46). This explanation subsequently sharp force marks, signs of burning and perimortem breakage. These proved untenable when radiocarbon determinations of five (unspeci- features were identified and recorded systematically. fied) human bones produced dates in the Mediaeval period (Clark, Tool marks, and breaks to bones occurring in antiquity were distin- 1987). guished from recent damage by their weathered edges. Two types of perimortem sharp force trauma were distinguished: knife-marks and 3. Methods chop-marks. Knife-marks are made by drawing a knife blade across bone and are identified as elongated grooves of V- or U-shaped cross- 3.1. Osteology section; they may show parallel, longitudinal striations within the main groove (Walker & Long, 1977; Reichs, 1998; Greenfield, 1999). For subadult (aged ca. b 18 yrs) remains, age at death was estimated Chop-marks result from striking bone with a sword or other sharp blad- using dental development and epiphysial fusion, using methods identi- ed implement. They may completely slice through bone, tend to be lin- cal to those for the Wharram Percy churchyard burials (Mays, 2007:84– ear, their edges are generally well-defined and clean, and the surfaces of 5). A general impression of age was also gained from bone size by the cut edges are usually fairly flat and smooth (Wenham, 1989; Lewis,

2008; Kimmerle & Baraybar, 2008: 276). Examination of bones was un- Bronk Ramsey (2000). One sample, from a mandible, failed due to a dertaken under strong, raking light, aimed at highlighting surface fea- low collagen yield. tures. A hand lens and a binocular microscope were used to aid The human bones submitted to the SUERC were pretreated using a identiﬁcation of features. Morphology of marks was elucidated using modiﬁed Longin method (Longin, 1971). CO2 was obtained from the scanning electron microscopy as appropriate. samples by combustion in pre-cleaned sealed quartz tubes as described

Mechanical properties of fresh bone are characterised by significant by Vandeputte et al. (1996),withthepurified CO2 converted to graphite elasticity and plasticity by virtue of its organic content. Due to degrada- (Slota et al., 1987) and dated by AMS (Xu et al. 2004; Freeman et al., tion of the organic component (mainly collagen), the typical fracture 2010). pattern of dry bone differs from that of fresh bone (Outram, 2002). For long bone diaphyses, fresh bone tends to break with a curvilinear frac- 3.3. Strontium isotope analyses ture, dry bone tends to show straight or stepped breaks. In fresh bone, the broken surface of a fracture is usually smooth with sharp edges, One potential reason for deviant mortuary treatment is that individ- but in dry bone it has a roughened appearance. The above criteria are uals come from outside the community that buried them (Binford, not absolute (Outram, 2002), but they act as a guide to distinguish 1971). Analysis of strontium isotope ratios in dental enamel was carried breaks that occurred when the bone was fresh, as would be expected out to investigate this possibility. Isotopic composition of dental enamel of perimortem anthropogenic breakage. Carnivore gnawing and other varies with the location in which an individual lived whilst that enamel animal damage was identified using established criteria (Haynes, was forming during childhood (Bentley, 2006). Results from material 1980, 1982, 1983; Binford, 1981:44–77), as were human tooth marks from the pit-complex (N = 7 individuals) were compared with Mediae- (Cáceres et al., 2007; Fernández-Jalvo & Andrews, 2011). val burials (N = 9) from the churchyard at Wharram Percy, to test the Heating of bone causes colour changes which vary (inter alia) with hypothesis that those individuals buried in the pit came from outside temperature, and these alterations were used to identify exposure of re- the normal catchment area (the parish) for burial in the churchyard. mains to heat. Upon heating, bones darken in colour to dark brown and Samples were removed from M3, or M2 where M3 was not available. then black, corresponding to charring of the organic component. As the The surface of the enamel in the sampling area was first cleaned by temperature rises further, the colour lightens until it becomes predom- abrasion with a dental burr. A longitudinal section of enamel was then inantly light grey or white; this lightening appears to correspond to the removed as a wedge using a diamond cutting disk. The sample was typ- progressive loss of the organic component by combustion (Mays, 2010: ically 1 mm thick, representing the complete available growth axis of 322). the enamel (i.e. from crown to cervix). The Sr isotope analyses of each sample represent the weighted (by Sr concentration and enamel thick- 3.2. Radiometric dating ness) average isotopic values over the periods of enamel formation which are approximately 2.5–8 years for M2 and 8.5–14 years for M3 Because of the mixed nature of the deposits in the pit-complex, it (AlQahtani et al., 2010). Adhering dentine, which is far more susceptible was decided to radiometrically date some of the specimens bearing to diagenetic alteration, was removed using a dental burr. The sample sharp force marks and evidence for perimortem breakage, and to com- was then cleaned in an ultrasonic bath, with multiple changes of MilliQ bine the results with those of the five (unidentified) human bones 18 MΩ water and dried in a vacuum oven at 60 °C. from the pit-complex dated in the 1980s. The aims are to: investigate The prepared samples were then dissolved in 3 N HNO3 prior to whether the remains from the pit-complex are contemporary with the running through ~50 μl Sr-Spec columns to isolate the Sr. The Sr fraction burials in the churchyard; to estimate the date range encompassed by was dried down and loaded onto an outgassed Re filament with 1 μlofa the remains; and to investigate whether the anthropogenically modi- Ta activator solution. The samples were analysed on a ThermoScientific fied remains have dates consistent with one another and hence poten- Triton Thermal Ionisation Mass Spectrometer using a static procedure tially represent the result of a single event, or else were a result of with amplifier rotation and a 88Sr beam of 2 V. Fractionation was repeated behaviours over a period of time. Ten bones (five showing corrected using an exponential correction normalised to 86Sr/88Sr = knife-marks, five showing perimortem breakage) were selected for dat- 0.1194. NIST987 was run as a standard and the long term average for ing on the basis that they had sufficient cortical bone to provide a date NIST987 on this instrument is 0.710249 ± 0.000022 (2sd) on 70 without unduly damaging the specimen. analyses. The five samples of human bone dated at AERE Harwell between 1982 and 86 were all pretreated using the standard acid–base-protocol 4. Results and converted to carbon dioxide (Otlet and Slade, 1974). One sample, HAR-4949, was dated by liquid scintillation spectrometry. Following 4.1. Inventorial and demographic data pretreatment the carbon dioxide was synthesised to benzene using a method similar to that initially described by Tamers (1965) using a va- The remains are rather fragmented, but are grossly in good condition nadium-based catalyst (Otlet, 1977) and dated as described by Otlet with little post-depositional erosion of surfaces. They represent a mini- (1979) and Otlet and Warchal (1978). The remaining four samples, mum of 100 adult and 37 subadult bones, together with 409.6 g of un- HAR-4948 and HAR-4950–52, were dated in a miniature gas propor- identified fragments. There were also 24.9 g of non-human bone tional counter. Procedures for gas purification, counter filling, and gas proportional counting, using the miniature counter, followed Otlet and Table 1 Evans (1983) and Otlet et al. (1983). Skeletal elements with discolouration indicative of exposure to heat.

The ten samples of human bone submitted for dating in 2014 were Number sent to the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU; 5 samples) Burnt Total and Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC; 5 samples) to provide a degree of cross-checking and ensure the repro- Crania 5 6 ducibility and accuracy of the radiocarbon measurements (Bayliss and Mandibles 1 7 Vertebrae 2 15 Marshall, forthcoming). The samples of human bone dated at ORAU Scapulae 2 7 were processed using the gelatinisation and ultraﬁltration protocols de- Sterna 1 2 scribed by Bronk Ramsey et al. (2004a). The samples were then Humeri 2 9 combusted, graphitised and dated by accelerator mass spectrometry Ribs 3 23 Tibiae 1 6 (AMS) as described by Bronk Ramsey et al. (2004b) and Dee and

Fig. 2. Representation of skeletal elements, calculated as a percentage of those expected if each of the MNI of 10 were a complete skeleton, in material from the pit-complex (heavy line). For comparison, representation of elements in burials from the churchyard at Wharram Percy, calculated as a percentage of that expected if all burials(N = 687) were complete, is also shown (dashed line).

4.5. Radiometric dating and dietary stable isotope ratios

The results (Table 3) are conventional radiocarbon ages (Stuiver and Polach, 1977), and are quoted in accordance with the Trondheim con- vention (Stuiver and Kra, 1986). The calibrations of these results, which relate the radiocarbon measurements directly to the calendrical time scale, are given in Table 3 and in Fig. 14. All have been calculated Fig. 3. Right parietal from an adult cranium showing thermal discolouration that increases using the datasets published by Reimer et al. (2013) and the computer in intensity toward the vertex, with some exfoliation of the outer table. program OxCal v4.2 (Bronk Ramsey 1995, 1998, 2001, 2009). The

Table 2 Cut-marked bones.

Bone Location of cuts Number of Remarks cuts

Cranium A Inferior part of occipital squama 8 Unfused spheno-occipital synchondrosis Basi-occipital 4 Right occipital condyle 6 Mandible 1 Left ramus, lateral surface 3 50+ yrs at death Right ramus, anterior margin 3 Mandible 2 Right gonium 2 c40–50 yrs at death, probably male Mandible 3 Left ramus, posterior margin 4 c30–40 yrs at death, left hemi-mandible only present Second cervical vertebra Anterior surface of body 1 Third cervical vertebra Anterior surface of body 4 Fourth cervical vertebra Anterior surface of body 3 Left transverse process 2 C2–4 are part of a sequence of four cervical vertebrae (C1-C4) from one individual & do not belong to cranium A Mid – lower thoracic Left side of body 2 vertebrae (?T9) Left clavicle Inferior surface 2 Anterior and posterior surfaces adjacent to sternal 2 end Right clavicle Posterior surface 2 These clavicles are from different individuals Left humerus Posterior surface 6 Humerus shaft fragment – 1 Probably not the same humerus as above Right rib Outer surface 2 Right rib Outer surface 4 (?2nd rib) Right rib Inferior surface, adjacent to articular surface for 4 vertebral transverse process Left rib Outer surface 7 ?3rd rib. Evenly spaced approx. parallel cuts Left rib Superior/outer surface 4 10th rib

calibrated date ranges cited are quoted in the form recommended by 4.6. Strontium isotope ratios Mook (1986), with the end points rounded outward to 10 years or ﬁve years for those with errors b25 years. The ranges in Table 3 have An estimation of the ‘local range’ is required when using Sr isotopes been calculated according to the maximum intercept method (Stuiver to distinguish locals from non-locals. There are a number of methods to and Reimer, 1986); the probability distributions shown in Fig. 14 and constrain the local range which include estimating Sr values from the Supplementary Fig. 2 are derived from the probability method local geology, and the measurement of reference samples (sediments, (Stuiver and Reimer, 1993). plants, animals (e.g. Bentley et al. 2004)). Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis indicate that the individ- Wharram Percy sits on a small area of Cretaceous chalk geology in uals consumed a diet predominantly based upon temperate terrestrial the Yorkshire Wolds. Geological and biosphere Sr maps (Evans et al.

C3 foods (Schoeninger and DeNiro, 1984; Katzenberg and Krouse, 2010; Neale, 1974; Wood and Smith, 1978), and studies for Sr in the re- 1989). The radiocarbon results are therefore unlikely to be affected by gion (Montgomery et al., 2007; Evans et al., 2012), divide Yorkshire into any significant reservoir effects (Bayliss et al., 2004). All the samples two 87Sr/86Sr zones; north and northwest being 0.7084–0.7100, and gave C:N values within the range normally used to indicate good colla- south and southeast being 0.7073–0.7084. This range is further gen preservation (2.9–3.6; DeNiro, 1985). constrained by Montgomery et al. (2007) and McArthur et al. (2001) The nine radiocarbon measurements from samples dated in 2014 using soil leachates of the chalk rich soils, representative of those are not statistically consistent (T′ = 58.1; T′(5%) = 15.5; ν =9;Ward around Wharram Percy, which yield Sr isotopic values between and Wilson, 1978) and therefore represent material of different ages. 0.7075 and 0.7078. Additional bioavailable Sr is provided by rainwater Even the cut-marked mandibles and clavicles represent individuals (with 87Sr/86Sr of 0.7092) so Montgomery et al. (2007) suggest for an who died at different times as their radiocarbon determinations are sta- entirely chalk-based subsistence, with a rainwater input would yield a tistically inconsistent (T′ =14.7;T′(5%) = 7.8; ν =3). local 87Sr/86Sr range of 0.7075–0.7092. This range is consistent with The dated human remains from the pit represent individuals that the results obtained from the individuals buried in the churchyard died over a significant period of time. Bayesian statistical modelling which are mostly likely to represent individuals local to the parish (Buck et al., 1992; Bayliss et al., 2007a), was undertaken using OxCal (Table 4, Fig. 15). v.4.2 (Bronk Ramsey, 1995; 1998; 2001; 2009) to aid estimation of the With one exception (Mandible D, unsexed adult aged N50 yrs) the Sr date range of the remains. The date ranges from the model are given isotopic values of individuals buried in the pit are statistically indistin- in italics to distinguish them from simple, calibrated radiocarbon guishable from those buried in the graveyard (t-test, P = 0.19). Both dates. This model (Fig. 14) has good overall agreement (Amodel:85; fall within the within the local Sr range, and it is likely that both groups Bronk Ramsey, 1995, 429), and suggests that individuals buried in the are ‘local’ to Wharram Percy (i.e. they are consistent with the chalk ge- pit died over a period of 160–475 years (95% probability; Supplementary ology on which Wharram lies). Mandible D produced more radiogenic Fig. 3) and probably 230–400 years 68% probability). Given the Sr values. Whilst these are unlikely to represent the chalk geology of disarticulated nature of the material in the pit it is feasible that not all the Wolds, strontium isotopic ratios between 0.7092 and 0.7100 have the dates are independent as the same individual could have been been found for Triassic and Permian mudstones (Montgomery et al., dated more than once. In addition, assuming that the people who 2007) which are found b30 km to the west of Wharram Percy. So this ended up in the pit died at a relatively constant rate over a period of ‘immigrant’ need not have moved a long distance. However, Sr values time is also questionable. The chronological model is therefore open to between 0.7090 and 0.7100 are characteristic of large areas of the UK revision but it does indicate the individuals in the pit-complex died (Evans et al. 2010), so the individual may have come from further afield. over an extended period of time. Without further studies (e.g. with oxygen isotopes) it is impossible to

Fig. 5. Composite diagram showing distribution of cut marks in the remains. The cervical vertebrae shown in inset come from a single individual, and the cut marks on the occipital bone shown in inset also occur in one individual (not the same one as the vertebrae).

say more than this individual is unlikely to have spent his/her childhood this is to be expected from a low status, rural, agricultural population, in the region immediately local to Wharram Percy. but it does contrast to studies at the Anglian (5th–7th century CE) site The presence of only locals in the graveyard, albeit on a small num- of West Heslerton in North Yorkshire, 12 km to the NE of Wharram ber of samples, indicates little or no mobility in the population. Perhaps Percy. Here, nearly half of the individual strontium isotope ratios lay

Fig. 8. Three intersecting perimortal chop-marks on a basi-occipital.

5. Discussion

The skeletal material from the pit-complex consists of the substantially incomplete remains of at least ten individuals. Among the remains, compared to other elements, skulls are over-represented and vertebrae under-represented. The ages at death of the individuals whose remains make up the assemblage range from about 2–4 years to over 50 years. Both sexes appear to be represented. The brown/black discolouration of burnt bones suggest low temperature (b400 °C) burning, the dark colours indicating that burning occurred when the bone retained its organic content. The observations that, for the crania, adjoining fragments showed similar thermal discolouration and, save at open sutures, alterations were confined to the ectocranium, are consistent with burning whilst they were intact. Delamination of the outer table was a promi- nent feature. Delamination has been demonstrated in experimental burning of cadaver heads (Pope & Smith, 2004), as well as in forensic cases of corpses suffering burning (Alunni et al., 2014), and has been Fig. 6. a, b. Knife-marks on external surfaces of two rib fragments. stated to seldom occur in burning of dry crania (Curtin, 2008). The pattern observed in the present crania, by which thermal alteration is con- outside the local range (Montgomery et al., 2005; Budd et al., 2004), fined to, or is more pronounced toward, the cranial vertex is also though it is not clear over what distances immigration occurred because consistent with burning in the fleshed state: flesh acts as an insulator, of the complex local geology (West Heslerton lies just off the Cretaceous so that areas of thicker soft tissue, such as the lower parts of the occipital chalk). bone, are less thermally altered than the upper parts of the cranial vault

Fig. 9. Anterior view of the fourth cervical vertebra shown in Fig. 4. There are three Fig. 7. Left lateral view of a mid-lower thoracic vertebra, showing two approximately approximately transverse knife marks on the anterior surface of the body (arrowed). parallel, obliquely orientated knife cuts. There is burning on the lower part of the vertebral body.

Fig. 12. A longitudinally split femur shaft fragment.

Turning to the post-cranial remains, the pattern whereby the group of articulating cervical vertebrae C1 – C4 show thermal discolouration only on the inferior parts of C4 and, less severely, on the inferior tip of the neural spine of C3, may suggest they were articulated with one another but separated from the remainder of the vertebral column when burnt. The vertebrae showed knife marks. The suggestion is that mutilation preceeded burning – i.e. the head was severed and then burnt. On long-bones, thermal alteration was mainly confined to the subperiosteal surfaces. The lack of penetration of heat to the medullary cavities suggests fire of short duration. This suggestion is also consistent with the pattern of burning seen on the crania, in which thermal alteration was almost entirely confined to ectocranial surfaces and was less in parts that would have had thicker covering of soft tissue. The observation Fig. 10. Scanning electron micrograph of an impression made from a mandibular ramus. Two knife marks are visible. that many limb bones showed thermal discolouration to one surface only suggests they may have lain on the ground or other surface so that only one side was exposed to heat. where soft tissue is thinner. This pattern of burning has been observed Sharp force tool marks were confined to the upper body parts and in experimentally burnt cadaver heads (Pope & Smith, 2004), and in fo- were particularly concentrated in the head/neck area. Some cut-marked rensic cases where corpses were subjected to burning (Owsley et al., bones also showed burning or perimortem breakage. Most sharp-force 1995; Symes et al., 2008). marks appear to have been made with a fine knife drawn across the

Fig. 13. Anterior view of same partial tibia as in Fig. 11. The arrow denotes a possible Fig. 11. Lateral view of the distal part of a tibia, showing a spiral fracture through the impact pit lying on the main fracture line, with an incipient fracture crack radiating diaphysis. from it.

Table 3 Radiocarbon and carbon and nitrogen stable isotope results.

Laboratory code Sample reference Material δ13C(‰) δ15N(‰) C:N Radiocarbon age (BP) Calibrated date (95% conﬁdence)

OxA-30234 Clavicle 1a Human bone, clavicle −19.8 8.9 3.2 869 ± 23 cal 1050–1220 CE OxA-30235 Clavicle 2a Human bone, clavicle −19.6 10.2 3.2 895 ± 23 cal 1040–1215 CE P36541 Mandible 1a Human bone, mandible Failed due to low yield OxA-30236 Mandible 2a Human bone, mandible −19.9 10.1 3.2 916 ± 23 cal 1030–1185 CE SUERC-53434 Mandible 3a Human bone, mandible −20.2 10.8 3.2 1003 ± 28 cal 980–1120 CE SUERC-53435 Humerus fragment 1b Human bone, humerus −20.1 10.7 3.2 969 ± 28 cal 1010–1160 CE SUERC-53436 Humerus fragment 2b Human bone, humerus −20.4 8.8 3.3 973 ± 30 cal 1010–1160 CE SUERC-53437 Humerus fragment 3b Human bone, humerus −20.1 8.9 3.2 1109 ± 28 cal 880–1000 CE OxA-30284 Femur fragmentb Human bone, femur −19.9 9.8 3.3 946 ± 28 cal 1020–1170 CE SUERC-53438 Right femur fragmentb Human bone, right femur −20.3 8.8 3.2 970 ± 28 cal 1010–1160 CE HAR-4948 103093/1 Human bone −20.8c 650 ± 100 cal 1200–1450 CE HAR-4949 103093/2 Human bone −22.3c 1060 ± 100 cal 710–1190 CE HAR-4950 103093/3 Human bone −23.1c 640 ± 80 cal 1220–1440 CE HAR-4951 103093/4 Human bone −22.2c 1000 ± 100 cal 770–1250 CE HAR-4952 103093/5 Human bone −24.1c 1110 ± 100 cal 670–1160 CE

a Cut-marked. b Perimortem breakage. c Harwell δ13C were used to correct for fractionation when calculating the radiocarbon ages and are not comparable to those more recently obtained Oxford and Glasgow measurements on IRMS, and are not suitable for dietary reconstruction.

bone. The only evidence for chop-marks was in the base of cranium A; oblique knife marks have also been found in forensic cases where de- given their location in the basal part of the occipital, it is likely that capitation using a knife was part of post-mortem dismemberment of these injuries were inflicted upon a severed head. Indeed, the knife- the corpse (Reichs, 1998). The clavicular cuts may be associated with marks at the occipital condyle and squama of this cranium may be asso- dismemberment (Kanetake et al., 2008), as may the cuts on the upper ciated with separation of the head from the vertebral column. The knife- ribs (Pietrusewsky et al., 2007). marks on the mandibles are confined to the rami and are approximately Unlike the tool marks and the thermal alterations, which predomi- transverse in orientation. Marks of this sort have been associated with nantly affected the upper parts of the body, perimortal breakage of disarticulation of the mandible in archaeological and anthropological long-bones involved upper and lower limbs to a similar extent. Howev- cases of trophy heads (Tung, 2008; Bonney, 2014), and may be associat- er, it is only the larger long-bones (humerus, femur, tibia) that are ed with efforts to remove the masseter muscle and other flesh from the affected. cheek area (Kanetake et al., 2008). However, they may also occur as col- Radiometric dating indicates that the study material comes from the lateral damage in post-mortem decapitation using a knife (Reichs, late Mediaeval period, with dates centering around the 11th–13th 1998). Transverse cuts to the anterior aspect of cervical vertebrae centuries CE. The Wharram Percy, churchyard was used for burial have been identified in forensic cases of death by throat-cutting throughout the later Mediaeval period, beginning in about the mid (Kimmerle & Baraybar, 2008:Fig.6.4;Ozdemir et al., 2013). However, tenth century CE (Bayliss et al., 2007b), so the pit-complex material is one of the cut-marked cervical vertebrae from Wharram Percy also contemporaneous with the use of the churchyard. The remains repre- shows more vertically orientated cuts on a transverse process, which sent people whose deaths span more than a century. The evidence for would seem difficult to attribute to throat slitting, and horizontal and burning, cut marks and breakage in the perimortem period indicates

Fig. 14. Probability distributions of the radiocarbon dates from remains from the Wharram Percy pit-complex. Each distribution represents the relative probability that an event occurs at a particular time. For each radiocarbon date, two distributions have been plotted: one in outline which is the result of simple radiocarbon calibration, and a solid one based on the chronological model used. The other distributions correspond to aspects of the model. The large square brackets down the left-hand side of the diagram and the OxCal keywords deﬁne the overall model exactly.

Table 4 save for interments at battlefield or massacre sites (Fiorato et al., Results of the Sr isotopic analyses on the teeth from remains from the pit and the cemetery 2000; Loe et al., 2014; Wallis, 2014), executed felons in burial grounds at Wharram Percy. associated with the place of execution (Buckberry & Hadley, 2007), or Sample ID 87Sr/86Sr ± 2 SE Tooth sampled occasional finds of infant burials in settlements (Rahtz, 1969; Cemetery Chapman, 2010), archaeological evidence for burials or other deposits NA004 0.708339 ± 0.000014 M3 of human remains outside formal cemeteries is rare (Daniell, 1997: NA006 0.708207 ± 0.000013 M3 104; Gilchrist & Sloane, 2005: 73). At Wharram Percy, a total of three ar- EE003 0.708353 ± 0.000014 M3 ticulated inhumations (an infant and two adults) were recorded from NA178 0.708289 ± 0.000017 M2 NA033 0.708635 ± 0.000015 M3 domestic contexts. They come from various locations in the northern NA121 0.708401 ± 0.000016 M3 part of the site, some 220–340 m distant from the pit-complex. None NA088 0.708207 ± 0.000013 M3 has been shown to be contemporaneous with the churchyard burials WCO144 0.708167 ± 0.000016 M3 (one is 7th century CE, two are undated (Richards, 1992:84; EE018 0.708929 ± 0.000014 M3 Wrathmell, 1989: 15; Rahtz et al., 2004:11–15)). A literature search Pit failed to reveal assemblages of human remains from late Mediaeval En- Mandible A 0.708296 ± 0.000012 M3 gland that bore close parallels with that from the Wharram Percy pit- Mandible D 0.709655 ± 0.000014 M2 complex. Mandible 3 0.708617 ± 0.000015 M3 Maxilla A 0.708481 ± 0.000013 M2 Victims of battle (Novak, 2000) or smaller scale acts of violence Mandible B 0.708444 ± 0.000012 M2 (Stroud, 1993) in the Mediaeval period generally show sharp force trau- Mandible 1 0.708322 ± 0.000014 M2 ma, and in an example where the building where the slaughter took Mandible2 0.708659 ± 0.000013 M3 place was set ablaze, there was also some charring of remains (Falys, 2014). However, in such cases, sharp force trauma is normally in the form of chop-marks from swords or axes; the paucity of chop-marks, that they are the product of more than one event rather than of a single and the evidence for postmortem processing in the form of knife- episode of activity carried out on material of different ages. The lack of marks and breakage of long-bones in the current material is inconsis- animal gnawing suggests that the bones were not exposed on the sur- tent with these explanations. Occasionally, Mediaeval funerary practice face, but were curated or perhaps more likely, given the residual pottery involved postmortem removal of the heart or other organs for separate found in the pit-complex, buried elsewhere before being deposited in burial, and this might potentially leave knife- or chop-marks on the the pit. bones. However, this treatment was restricted to high-status individ- The churchyard at Wharram Percy acted as the usual burial place for uals, and in such instances physical remains were deposited in those who died in the parish, the limits of which lie within the consecrated ground (Gilchrist & Sloane, 2005: 80). The remains from chalklands of the Yorkshire Wolds (Bell, 1987; Wrathmell, 2012). The the pit-complex predate the mid-16th century statute making witch- strontium isotopic data from the dental enamel of the churchyard craft a capital offence (and a sentence that was sometimes carried out burials are consistent with individuals who lived in the immediate lo- by burning) (Stoyle, 2011), and they are earlier than the widespread cale during childhood. In general, the strontium isotopic data from the burning of heretics in that same century (Cavill, 2013). They are also remains from the pit-complex resemble those from the control burials too early in date to represent residua of disposal of medical dissections from the churchyard. (Richardson, 1988:30–51). In any event, none of the above scenarios could account for the full gamut of modifications seen in the current 6. Interpretation remains. Accounting for the totality of features of the human remains from The strontium isotopic data provide no support for the suggestion the pit-complex is difficult, but the nature of the evidence, together that the individuals buried in the pit were non-locals and hence no sup- with historical documentary sources for the period suggest two possible port for the hypothesis that those whose remains were found in the pit- scenarios: starvation cannibalism and attempts to lay the revenant complex were accorded deviant mortuary treatment because they were dead. of non-local origin. Alternative explanations need to be sought. In the late Mediaeval period, some groups, including suicides and 6.1. Cannibalism felons, were theoretically excluded from churchyard burial. However, In the Mediaeval period, poor harvests were a cause of famine and consequent elevated mortality (Dyer, 1998). Between 1066 CE and 1300 in England, chroniclers recorded at least 12 famines worthy of note (Kershaw, 1973). The soils at Wharram Percy are thin and prone to nutrient exhaustion (Hayfield, 1988: 25). Its harsher climate consequent upon its upland location in northern England would have made Wharram Percy more vulnerable to weather-related crop failure than more southerly or lowland settlements. It is therefore likely that the community would have experienced repeated famine episodes during the Middle Ages. Western European Mediaeval texts provide occasional reference to cannibalism prompted by starvation, but reports are generally presented in a stereotyped manner, with parallels to the Biblical siege of Samaria or to the siege of Jerusalem in Flavus' War of the Jews, a work widely known in the Middle Ages. Mediaeval chroniclers' references to cannibalism may therefore be a kind of shorthand to convey the severity of a famine using cultural reference points that would have been familiar to their readers; they cannot be taken as factual accounts of actual events (Jordan, 1996:148–50; Marvin, 1998; Fig. 15. Strontium isotope results from molar teeth from the Wharram Percy graveyard and pit remains. Error bars are smaller than data markers. The local range is estimated Vandenberg, 2010). Although reliable Mediaeval accounts of it are elu- from published soil leachates and rainwater Sr isotope values (Montgomery et al., 2007). sive, starvation cannibalism is clearly possible, given both the frequency

Please cite this article as: Mays, S., et al., A multidisciplinary study of a burnt and mutilated assemblage of human remains from a deserted Mediaeval village in England, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.02.023 12 S. Mays et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (2017) xxx–xxx of famine in the Middle Ages, and the abundant evidence from different cannibalism in 1874 in Colorado, where meat was apparently cut cultures from around the world that cannibalism may be resorted to in from intact corpses with no disarticulation or bone breakage for mar- such situations (Petrinovic, 2000). row, knife marks were concentrated at muscular attachments and The signature of cannibalism in skeletal remains is highly variable, involved all areas of the body, save the head and neck (Rautman & but potentially some or all of the following alterations may be present: Fenton, 2005). In the light of the above cases, the concentration of tool marks from bladed implements used to dismember the body or re- knife-marks in the head/neck region in the Wharram Percy material move flesh; burning or pot-polish from cooking by roasting or boiling is difficult to explain within a cannibalism scenario, as is the lack of respectively; fracturing of long-bones to extract marrow; under-repre- cuts below the chest area. sentation of vertebrae and other trabecular bone-rich elements due to Approximately 1–2% of faunal remains from the settlement at them having been crushed to yield fats; and resemblance of bodily Wharram Percy contemporary with the pit-complex human bones treatment with that accorded to faunal remains of comparable sized show burning (Pinter-Bellows, 2000; Richardson, 2004, 2005). For mammals used as food within the same culture (White, 1992; sheep and pig remains, 1–3% show knife marks and 1–6% show chop Kantner, 1999; Turner & Turner, 1999; Hurlbut, 2000; Knüsel & marks (Richardson, 2004, 2005). Breaking of bones for marrow extrac- Outram, 2006). tion was not normally practised (Richardson, pers. comm., 2015). The In the adult, fatty yellow marrow is present within the medullary human remains from the pit-complex thus more often show breakage, cavities of long-bones (Outram, 2002). The intentional breakage of burning and knife-marks than do the faunal remains. In the faunal re- long-bones in the human remains from the Wharram Percy pit-com- mains, most cut-marks were associated with reduction of the carcass plex is consistent with opening of the medullary cavities to liberate for food (Richardson, 2005), but the even balance between chop- and marrow. In starvation, bone marrow is one of the last fat sources to be knife-marks contrasts with what was observed for the human remains mobilised, so even in individuals dying of hunger, fat reserves would from the pit-complex, indicating a difference in approach. likely be present in the bones (Outram, 2002). The pattern seen at Wharram Percy, with breaking open of the marrow cavity and produc- 6.2. Revenant corpses tion of longitudinally split shaft fragments is characteristic of faunal remains where marrow is used as a fat resource (Outram, 1999, 2002), A revenant is a re-animated corpse that arises from its grave. Belief and has been observed in human remains in presumptive archaeologi- in revenants was widespread in Mediaeval northern and western Eu- cal cases of cannibalism from the US Southwest (Turner, 1993; Turner & rope. Revenants were usually malevolent, spreading disease and physi- Turner, 1995; Billman et al., 2000). In these latter cases, there is also a cally assaulting the living (Gordon, 2014). Textual accounts of revenants paucity of vertebral elements, which has been interpreted in terms of in England are known from the 11th century onward (Blair, 2009), but crushing of these elements for bone grease (Turner, 1993); the paucity they may represent more ancient folklore (Simpson, 2003). Clerics were of vertebrae in the Wharram Percy pit-complex might be viewed in a able to accommodate beliefs in revenants within Christian theology, similar light. considering that it was Satan who animated these corpses, but the pre- The Wharram Percy remains do not show pot-polish, but the alter- dominant view seemed to associate revenants with the individual ations due to burning might be consistent with controlled use of fire whose corpse it was: reanimation arose as a result of a lingering life- in roasting. Remains from presumptive cannibalism sites in the US force in individuals who committed malign, evil deeds and projected Southwest resemble the current remains in showing brown/black ther- strong ill-will in life, or who experienced a sudden death leaving energy mal alteration and, in skulls, exfoliation of the ectocranial table (Turner, still unexpended (Caciola, 1996). Methods of dealing with the undead 1993; Novak & Kollmann, 2000; Lambert, 2014). involved physical and/or spiritual means, with an emphasis on the for- Turning to the cut-mark evidence, the distribution of cuts varies mer (Simpson, 2003). The most usual way was to dig up the body and widely between different cases of cannibalism, depending upon the subject it to mutilation (particularly decapitation) and burning ways in which corpses were utilised. Perhaps the most relevant com- (Oldridge, 2007: 67). For example, in the late 12th century, William of parisons are with documented instances of starvation cannibalism Newburgh, a Yorkshire monk, relates that, in Berwick, a revenant corpse where corpses were processed with sharp-edged metal tools. At Co- roamed at night, and these visitations only ceased when local youths lonial Jamestown, USA, there are contemporary accounts of starva- dug up the offending body, dismembered it and burnt the pieces in a tion cannibalism relating during the winter of 1609–10 (Herrmann, fire (Stevenson, 1861: V: 23). In Mediaeval texts, the revenant is a 2011). Disarticulated human remains recovered recently from the fleshed corpse rather than a skeleton, it is only in the liminal period be- site include a cranium and mandible with knife- and chop-marks. tween death and the decay of the flesh that the body poses a threat There are severe chop-marks to the rear of the cranium; if one ac- (Caciola, 1996). Mutilation and burning represent efforts to destroy cepts that cannibalism occurred at this settlement (and the veracity the integrity of the corpse. In the Wharram Percy remains, the burning of contemporary accounts is disputed (Herrmann, 2011)), then their was insufficient to affect very greatly the integrity of the skeletal purpose may have been to extract the brain so that it could be con- remains but it would doubtless have removed, or rendered sumed (Stromberg, 2013). During the ill-fated 1845 Sir John Franklin unrecognisable the fleshy parts. As discussed above, the knife marks Arctic expedition, corpses appear to have been dismembered, can be interpreted in terms of dismemberment or other mutilation of cooked and eaten, with processing of remains for marrow extraction the body, and those in the head/neck area may be associated with de- (Woodman, 1991; Brandt, 2011: 364–388; Mays and Beattie, 2016). capitation. The breakage observed in some of the long-bones might ap- In skeletal remains from that expedition, knife-marks were present pear superfluous if it was the fleshed corpse that was feared, but there on approximately 23% of elements (Mays & Beattie, 2016), confined are instances of revenants being tackled by breaking the legs of the to the post-cranial skeleton, and particularly concentrated around corpse (Martin, 1979). In some cases (e.g. Stevenson, 1861 V:24[7]; the joints and (puzzlingly) the hands and feet (Keenleyside et al., Bartlett, 2002: 197), Mediaeval sources report that the heart was cut 1997). At Wharram Percy, knife-marks are fewer (occurring on 12% from the revenant corpse as part of actions to stop it from wandering. of bones). In addition they do not cluster around major joints in the Ablation of the heart may leave sharp-force marks on thoracic skeletal appendicular skeleton. Groups of cut-marks running oblique or elements. However these tend to be located on the sternum, ventral transverse to the long axis of shafts of ribs and long-bones have parts of thoracic vertebrae and toward the sternal extremities of the been interpreted in archaeological human remains as filleting ribs (Mafart et al., 2004; Tiesler & Cucina, 2006; Klaus et al., 2010), marks (e.g. Bello et al., 2016). The groups of transverse knife-marks areas that do not show tool marks in the current assemblage. Written observed on a humerus and some ribs in the current material sources usually fail to specify the final fate of the remains after the trou- might be viewed in this light. However, in a case of starvation blesome corpse has been mutilated/burnt, but disposal of remains in a

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The potential significance of dietary offsets for the interpretation of radio- This may in part reflect that men were more likely to have led the kinds carbon dates: an archaeologically significant example from medieval Norwich. J. Archaeol. Sci. 43, 563–575. of lives, or died the kinds of deaths, associated with restless corpses Bayliss, A., Bronk Ramsey, C., van der Plicht, J., Whittle, A., 2007a. Bradshaw and Bayes: to- (Caciola, 1996), and the violent physicality of the Mediaeval revenant wards a timetable for the Neolithic. Camb. Archaeol. J. 17 (1–28) Supplement. may be more readily associated with males. The fact that women and Bayliss A, Cook G, Heighway C, Bronk Ramsey C, Harding C, Mays S. 2007b. Radiocarbon – children are well-represented in the Wharram Percy pit-complex re- dating. In: Mays, S., Harding, C., Heighway, C. WHARRAM a Study of Settlement on the Yorkshire Wolds, XI: the Churchyard. 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