Gayton Thorpe Neonate H Snelling -...

Neonate human remains from Gayton Thorpe Roman Villa Site, Norfolk

Dr. Hilary Snelling

February 2011

Table of Contents

Introduction....................................................................................................................................1

Methodology ...................................................................................................................................1

Results .............................................................................................................................................2

Age of Neonate ............................................................................................................................................. 2

Sex of Neonate.............................................................................................................................................. 3

Pathology ...................................................................................................................................................... 3

Discussion........................................................................................................................................4

Neonate bones from Roman villa sites ......................................................................................................... 4

Infanticide ..................................................................................................................................................... 4

Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................5

Figures.............................................................................................................................................6

Figure 1. Right and Left Femur. Scale in 10 mm increments. ...................................................................... 6

Figure 2. Right arm bones. Scale in 10 mm increments. .............................................................................. 6

Figure 3. Mandible. Scale in 10 mm increments. ......................................................................................... 7

Figure 4. Tooth crown formation in-situ of mandible. No Scale shown....................................................... 7

Figure 5. Ilia. Scale in 10 mm increments. ................................................................................................... 8

Tables ..............................................................................................................................................9

Table 1. Neonate bone summary................................................................................................................... 9

Table 2. Neonate bone measurements......................................................................................................... 11

References.....................................................................................................................................12

H Snelling 2011 Page 1 of 14

Introduction

In the summer of 2006, the re-evaluation of a Roman Villa (first excavated 1922-23) at

Gayton Thorpe, Norfolk, uncovered infant human remains. These remains were found in

context 3743, below the floor level of the South Block of the villa. The remains were

allocated finds number 47 and were bagged on site and loosely cleaned.

Methodology

Full recording of the bones was carried out in April 2010. The remains were cleaned of

residue soil using a soft brush and re-bagged to remove loose particles. Each element was

identified using human remains methodology following Bass (1995) with relevant

measurements taken as per Buikstra and Ubelaker (1994). Although restoration of human

bone is not desirable, this was carried out on both left and right ribs using UHU glue to aid

side identification.

An estimation of age at death was undertaken using spreadsheet analysis created by the

author in 2001 based on methodology of long bone length measurements as per Scheuer et al

(1980) regression models using London University Institute of Child Health (ICH) data.

Tooth crown appearance was also considered using the same spreadsheet with methodology

as per Buikstra and Ubelaker (1995) ; Gustafson and Koch (1974); Mays (1998) and

Schwartz (1995). Age is presented in weeks in-utero (i.u.), although an age of 38-40 i.u can

be considered full term, or at birth.

Although methodology is still very uncertain an estimation of sex was evaluated as per

Schutkowski (1993).


Results

Analysis of the remains shows that a single human neonate was recovered from this context.

Overall the bone was in good condition and anatomically very complete. Although some

hand and foot bones are missing, no extra sieving of associated soil was carried out prior to

recording as facilities were not available and this admission was not considered significant to

the analysis.

Table 1 details the number and condition of the bones recovered, as per the following fields:

Element: The name of bone ; Side: Left (L), Right (R), Mid-line bones, with no discernable

Left or Right, or where Left and Right have fused (L+R) or Undetermined (U) for fragmented

bone ; Count: The number of elements recovered, Fragments are indicated by (F) ;

Preservation: 1 for complete bone in good condition, 2 for incomplete, damaged bone, 3 for

bone in poor condition. Relevant notes on preservation and recovery are included in

footnotes.

Long bone measurements were recorded as shown in Table 2. Measurements were not

possible for the left Radius, Ulna, Tibia or Fibula and a estimation was taken for the right

femur due to the post mortem break. An estimation of foetal age as per Scheuer et al (1980)

was determined from the right long bone lengths, as the left side was too incomplete to use.

Complete long bones are shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Age of neonate

The estimated age of the neonate from long bone length is 39 ± 6 weeks using right leg and

arm bones. This is a large range of uncertainty, and when the leg bones only are considered

this margin is decreased to 39 ± 3 weeks. The left femur alone also gives an estimated age of

39 ± 3 weeks. Although an error of uncertainty exists in this estimation, it is considered than

the mean age represents a neonate of full term.

An estimation of age from tooth crown formation shows greater uncertainty, however

mineralisation of the mandibular canine and first and second molars suggest a minimum age

of 36 weeks in utero and a maximum of one month after birth. This estimation of age from


tooth crown formation is consistent with that from the long bone length, being that of a full

term neonate.

Sex of neonate

Mandibular and ilium morphology suggest that the infant was possibly female although this

can not be expressed with any certainty. This uncertainty is not unexpected as sexing of

female infants has been shown to produce a higher level of inaccuracy of females than males

(Scheuer, 2002). When compared to the examples of identification of sex by ilium

morphology from Romano-British infants from Poundbury (Molleson, 1993, Plate 56), the

Gayton Thorpe ilia appear to most closely match those identified as females through the

shape of the sciatic notch. Figures 3 to 5 show mandible and ilium morphology.

Pathology

No evidence of pathological conditions were evident on the bone.


Discussion

Neonate bones from Roman villa sites

Gowland and Chamberlain (2002) recognise that burial of human infants took place in non-

cemetery inhumations between the end of the 2nd Century AD and the beginning of the 4th

Century AD, this shows consistency with the burial at Gayton Thorpe. Other examples of

neonate bones from Roman-British villa sites include those from Winterton (Denston, 1976)

and Rudston (Bayley, 1980). The original long bone measurements from these sites were re-

assessed by Snelling (2006) in a comparison of mortality rates with those of infants found in

pits at Silchester Insula IX. In agreement with the original analyse infants of full term

mortality were considered present at both sites and hence the Gayton Thorpe neonate is

considered not to be unique in either age or context.

The reasons for burial associated with buildings is not certain and may be through practical

means of disposal, or because it was a practiced burial rite to do so, for either still born or for

live birth babies which died before full burial rites were permissible. Scott (1991) discusses

different practices of infant deposits at Roman villa sites and finds some link to animal

burials and agricultural processing. The remains of the Gayton Thorpe infant were not

however found in an agricultural context, being recovered from within the residential

complex. This however may not be inconsistent with Scott’s findings as she recognises the

agricultural association to be a feature of later Roman villa / farmhouse sites. The excavation

trench in which the Gayton Thorpe infant was discovered was situated in the hope of

recovering further evidence of a mosaic floor said to have been identified by the original

excavator in the 1920s. However, no evidence of this floor was found to exist in 2006. If the

report of the earlier excavation is correct then the infant would have been placed in the

ground and the mosaic floor laid, at some point, over the top. No clear association can be

made between the infant deposit and the possible mosaic floor however.

Infanticide

Of particular interest in the occurrence of infant bones from Romano-British sites and infant

mortality patterns, has been investigation into the possibility of infanticide of neonate babies

as a particular Roman practice. Mays (1993) discusses that infanticide may have been a

means of controlling family size, or population control, in early Roman society, with a


possible bias against female infants. Mays investigated 78 infants from Romano-British

settlements and 86 infants from Romano-British cemeteries and concluded that they showed

very similar mortality patterns with a distinct peak at 38-40 weeks estimated gestational age,

consistent with an increase in death at full term. This was compared with modern data from

both still and live births and a correlation between the live births was found, suggesting that

mortality distribution of the Romano-British infants was influenced by some degree of

infanticide. This conclusion is however brought into question by Gowland and Chamberlain

(2002) who used a Bayesian analysis technique to show some skew in age of death using the

Scheuer et al (1980) method used by Mays. Infanticide at Romano-British sites has more

recently been considered with the discovery of 97 infants from the Hambledon Roman Villa

as discovered by Chiltern Archaeology in 2010. Whilst the Gayton Thorpe infant fits the

demographic of other infants considered as possible cases of infanticide, this would be a

rather tenuous link to make in the case of a single burial. At, or near, full term still birth, or

death soon after birth is a more likely scenario although no pathological conditions have been

identified to suggest the infant was in any way unhealthy, however skeletal deformity is only

one of many reasons for non-survival of new born infants.

Conclusion

The discovery of infant bones within a Roman Villa in the British countryside is not unique

as comparison with other Villa sites have shown. The age of the infant at approximately full

term is also not unexpected. Although this neonate shows some morphological characteristics

which suggest it may have been female, and perhaps the less desired sex for a child in

Roman-British times, there is no evidence to suggest whether death was natural or not. Burial

within the Villa complex is also not unexpected for an infant of this age.


Figure 1. Right and Left Femur. Scale in 10 mm increments.

Figure 2. Right arm bones. Scale in 10 mm increments.


Figure 3. Mandible. Scale in 10 mm increments.

Figure 4. Tooth crown formation in-situ of mandible. No Scale shown.


Figure 5. Ilia. Scale in 10 mm increments.


Table 1. Neonate bone summary

Side: L = Left, R = Right, F = fragments. Preservation 1 = Good, 2 = Some damage, 3 = Poor

Element Side Count Preservation

Occipital2 L+R 1 1 Pars Lateralis L 1 1 Pars Lateralis R 1 1 Pars Basilaris L+R 1 1 Greater Wing of Sphenoid L 1 1 Greater Wing of Sphenoid R 1 1 Lesser Wing of Sphenoid L+R 1 1 Presphenoid L+R 1 1 Parietal2 L 1 2 Parietal4 R 1 2 Temporal L 1 2 Temporal R 1 1 Pars Petrosa L 1 1 Pars Petrosa1 R 1 1 Malleus L 1 1 Incus L 1 1 Stapes L 1 1 Zygomatic L 1 1 Zygomatic R 1 1 Frontal/Parietal L+R F 3 Frontal/Parietal L+R F 3 Frontal Orbit L 1 2 Frontal Orbit R 1 3 Facial bones F F 3 Facial bones F F 3 Maxilla6 L 1 1 Maxilla R 1 2 Upper M1 Crown U 1 1 Mandible7 L 1 1 Mandible8 R 1 2 Lower I2 crown L 1 1 Lower M1 crown R 1 1 Ribs L 7 1 Ribs L 5 2 Ribs R 10 1 Ribs R 2 2 Cervical Neural Arches L 6 1 Cervical Neural Arches R 7 1 Cervival Axis Centrum L+R 1 1 Dens L+R 1 1 Thoracic/Lumbar Neural Arches U 32 1 Thoracic/Lumbar Neural U F 3


Arches

Vertebral centrum L+R 21 1 Sacrum L+R 5 1 Scapula L 1 1 Scapula R 1 1 Clavicle L 1 1 Clavicle R 1 1 Humerus L 1 1 Humerus R 1 1 Radius2 L 1 2 Radius R 1 1 Ulna4 L 1 2 Ulna R 1 1 Metacarpal5 L 3 1 Metacarpal5 R 3 1 Hand Phalanges5 L 4 1 Hand Phalanges5 R 5 1 Metatarsal5 R 1 1 Metacarpal/metatarsal U 4 1 Phalanges U 3 1 Femur L 1 1 Femur2 R 1 2 Tibia L 1 2 Tibia R 1 1 Fibula L 1 2 Fibula R 1 1 Illium L 1 1 Illium R 1 1 Ischium L 1 1 Ischium R 1 1 Pubis L 1 1 Pubis L 1 1

1 Ear bones not extracted, likely present 2 Bone in two pieces 3 Bone in three pieces 4 Bone in Four pieces 5 Hand or Foot and Side identified on site, not verified 6 I1 + I2 crown in situ 7 C + M1 crown in situ 8 I1, I2, M2 crown in situ


Table 2. Neonate bone measurements

Element Side Length / mm

Humerus L 66.8

Humerus R 66.8

Radius R 60.8

Ulna R 52.3

Femur L 77.2

Femur R 76.9 E1

Tibia R 65.4

1 Length estimated due to post mortem break


References

Bass, W.M. 1995. Human Osteology. Fourth Edition, Missouria Archaeological Society, Inc.

Bayley, J. 1980. The human bones, in I.M. Stead, Rudston Roman villa: 146-8. Leeds: Yorkshire

Archaeological Society.

Buikstra, J.E. and Ubelaker, D.H. 1994. Standards for data collection from human skeletal remains. Arkansas Archaeological Survey Research Series, No. 44

Chiltern Archaeology. 2010. ‘Infant Deaths’ [online] http://www.chilternarchaeology.com/infant_deaths.htm (accessed 28th February 2011)

Denston, C.B. 1976. Human Remains. in I.M. Stead, Excavations at Winterton Roman Villa

and other Roman sites in north Lincolnshire p.290-300. London: HMSO.

Gowland, R.L., and Chamberlain, A.T. 2002. ‘A Bayesian Approach to Ageing Perinatal Skeletal Material from Archaeological Sites: Implications for the Evidence for Infanticide in Roman-Britain’. Journal of Archaeological Science Vol. 29, p.677-685

Gustafson, G., and Koch, G. 1974. ‘Age Estimation up to 16 Years of Age Based on Dental Development’ Odontologisk Revy 25 p.297-306

Mays, S. 1993 ‘Infanticide in Roman Britain’ Antiquity Vol. 67:257, p.883-888

Mays, S. 1998. The Archaeology of Human Bones, London: Routledge,

Molleson, T.I. 1993. ‘The human remains’, in D.E. Farwell and T.I. Molleson (eds.), Excavations at Poundbury 1966-80 II: The Cemeteries. Dorchester: Dorset Natural History & Archaeological Society. Monograph 11

Scheuer, L. 2002. ‘Brief Communication: A Blind Test of Mandibular Morphology for Sexing Mandibles in the First Few Years of Life’ American Journal of Physical Anthropology 119 p.189-191

Scheuer, J.L., Musgrave, J.H. and Evans, S.P. 1980. ‘The estimation of late foetal and perinatal age from limb bone length by linear and logarithmic regression’, Annals of Human Biology Vol. 7, No. 3, p.257-65


Schutkowski H. 1993. Sex Determination of Infant and Juvenile skeletons: I. Morphognostic features. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 90 p.199-205.

Schwartz, J.H. 1995. Skeleton Keys, Oxford University Press

Snelling, H. 2006. ‘The Human Remains’ in M. Fulford, A. Clarke and H Eckardt, Life and Labour in Late Roman Silchester Excavations in Insula IX since 1997, London: Britannia Monograph Series No.22, p.200-205

Scott, E. 1991. Animal and infant burials in Romano-British villas: a revitalisation movement, in P. Garwood, D. Jennings, R. Skeates & J. Toms (eds), Sacred and Profane: Proceedings of a Conference on Archaeology, Ritual and Religion, Oxford: Oxford University Committee for Archaeology Monograph 32, , p.115–21.

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