October 2020 – Black History Month

October is Black History Month and this is incredibly relevant to our small Anglo-Saxon ossuary in rural north Northumberland because the ossuary holds a diverse cosmopolitan multi-national population dating from 650-800AD.

Analysis of the isotopes of each skeletons’ teeth enamel enabled Durham University to pinpoint where each individual grow up. We know that less than 10% of the ossuary population came from the Bamburgh area with the majority coming from elsewhere in the British Isles but also Europe and beyond. This is beautifully illustrated in one skeleton of a child aged about 10 years old.

Skeleton 124 (excavated 1999) codeword Ādrinċeð

Due to their age at the time of death, the skeleton had both their milk teeth (which form in utero) and erupting adult teeth (the adult teeth form in early childhood). The two sets of teeth provide two isotope readings. In this instance, the adult teeth indicate that, prior to arriving in Bamburgh, this child spent his/her early childhood in a warm Mediterranean climate such as Southern France. The milk teeth indicate that this child’s mother was from further South in an even warmer environment, such as Southern Spain or possibly North Africa.

The analysis demonstrates that over the course of his/her short life this child travelled across possibly two continents to a final resting place in north east England. Whilst we cannot know the motivation that resulted in this family coming Bamburgh – we can all appreciate that it was a remarkable endeavour.

Visit the Digital Ossuary to see more detail about the whole Ossuary population.

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October 2020 – Black History Month

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