First blog post - picture content human remains

Hello everyone,

Welcome to my website and the first blog post. If you have read any of the information already on the website, you have a vague idea what this project is all about. I will not repeat it here, but you are more than welcome to send me any questions, if you have any. What I will do in my blog posts, is let you in on what I am doing along the way. It has actually been a whole year since I started my PhD but until now it has been mostly admin and literature research. It is only in the last few months that the really fun work has started.

The first obstacle to overcome has been the analysis of the human remains curated by Newark and Sherwood County Council. It is 95% done! I have to go back and look over it all again just to make sure the numbers and the sheets match up. When I have done that I will let you know how many people were excavated from the castle courtyard in the early 90’s. The number I have is not the true number of individuals or a true representation of the population as a whole, as the cemetery was not fully opened and excavated. The reason we only excavate certain areas, is we tend to only open the areas we know will be built on and try to disturb as little as possible. However, it has been mentioned that some skeletons were found in the 1800’s when the courtyard was being prepared for a market but I am not sure where they are now or if they were ever recovered. Nevertheless, we are well over 80 skeletons so far, so our numbers are good.

Some might be wondering why we are looking at these skeletons. There are many answers to that and maybe not everyone agrees. I want to learn more about Newark and about its past. I believe that by understanding the people better we can understand the past better. Combining all archaeology and history is the best way to interpret the past. We can ask questions like: If we are housing these skeletons should we not do something with them? Staying in boxes, away from the public is not very informative. It is not only about understanding Newark’s past, but understanding Newark in the greater context of Anglo-Saxon England. I could go on, but lets move on to the next bit.

How the human remains are stored

Multiple skeletons in each box that we are trying to piece together. Sometimes it is almost like puzzle

As you might have read in the project intro, I want to do isotope analysis and photogrammetry. My training has started. Photogrammetry training is hard. I have to admit, going into this project, this was what I was dreading most because I am not a very techy person. However, with great help from StoryLab at ARU (which is the department where I am doing my PhD), I have actually discovered I am not as useless as I thought. I have learnt how to use the camera and the right settings for the bones. I have learnt how to use the software Metashape. I have also completed a photo test on a femur bone, only took me a whole day. 511 photos, but the result looked really good. I do plan on being able to take photos of more than just one bone a day, I just need to practise a bit more.

Practise session with femur on turntable and camera

Godox lightbox and turntabel

Isotope training is also going forwards. This is all happening at Cambridge University and the MacDonald institute. Tooth drilling, enamel sampling, collagen extraction, bone dust collection and so on. It sounds like a lot, and it is, but it is so interesting and I cannot wait to get started with the Newark material. I will go into more detail about what we hope to see from this data later on when I start it.

That was it for now. Hopefully this has been somewhat informative. There should be another blog post out after Easter.

Take care

Tanja