[Warning: contains photos of human remains]

By Natasha Powers, Senior Manager (and osteoarchaeologist)

Last year we were commissioned by Banks, Long and Co. to undertake a programme of archaeological monitoring and recording during groundworks for work on Stokes new barista training college at The Lawn, Lincoln. Previous work in the area has revealed medieval and Roman remains, but much of the area was remodelled when the gardens for the Lawn Asylum and Hospital were laid out in the 19th century. The monitoring found relatively modern features associated with the buildings, but about 12m to the north of the former location of the Joseph Banks Conservatory, was a shallow pit containing fragments of medieval and post-medieval roof tiles and a quantity of disarticulated human bone.

Spread of disarticulated, redeposited human bone

The bones originated from more than one person and were jumbled in a way that showed that they had been moved from their original position. A minimum of three adults and a child were represented. Radiocarbon dating showed that these people had died in the early 14th century. There was evidence that some had suffered from infectious disease and lots of damage consistent with the bone having been moved around in the past. Most significantly, there were peri-mortem (around the time of death) cuts and chop marks on eight separate bones, including this adult humerus (upper arm).

Adult upper arm (humerus) that has been chopped through

In 1987, excavations at The Lawn uncovered a number of burials thought to be related to the graveyard of the parish church of St. Bartholomew. St. Bartholomew’s was established in the 11th century and in the 14th century was used as the chapel of a hospital. The Cathedral canons were buried there from 1297. The graves that were uncovered during the excavation were suggested to be 14th century in date (Camidge 1987). In the part of the site closest to the location of our monitoring were multiple burials with large spaces between them. Our work has been able to confirm the date of the burials, whilst the 1980s excavation helps us determine that our finds are most likely from closely associated burials and were disturbed en masse by 19th century gardening.

Looking at the 1980s excavation and the current work together, what explanation can be provided for the injuries? The injuries include the (at least partial) removal of a right arm just above the elbow, a foot at the ankle, and a lower leg (probably above the ankle), all with a sharp, heavy blade. These injuries have characteristics that suggest an attack on a living person by another, for example during battle. Some of the other bones have injuries that indicate numerous repetitive parallel chops, as if made in quick succession. The location in the body means that they would be difficult to achieve in a living person. These injuries might be more likely to show the dismemberment of a dead person. The early 14th century was a time of unrest between the Scots and English (notably Bannockburn in 1314) and conflict spilled south. This was also a period of poor harvests culminating in the Great Famine of 1316–1322. Famine had a serious impact on social cohesion and crime rose in both urban and rural areas; or perhaps those buried on the margins of the cemetery of St Bartholomew’s died in an, as yet unidentified, battle. Something to ponder over coffee perhaps?

Camidge, K, 1987, The Lawn, in Archaeology in Lincolnshire 1986–1987, Third Annual Report of the Trust for Lincolnshire Archaeology, October 1987, 25–26