St. Michael's Church, Bishop Middleham
NZ 4328 5313; (Robin Taylor-Wilson and Alan Telford); watching brief and excavation; October-December 2002; BPM 02
The archaeological works involved monitoring groundworks associated with the excavation of service trenches for with provision of new gas, water and drainage services to the church. This involved the recording and excavation of a total of 45 complete and partial articulated human skeletons. All burials are thought to have been interred during the medieval or early post-medieval period.
Detailed assessment of the skeletal remains demonstrated that the most commonplace identifiable pathologies in the sample were osteoarthritis, recorded in 9 individuals; dental conditions, including wear indicative of a very gritty diet; and non-specific infections, often still active at death. One general conclusion that could be reached was that the observed pathologies were suggestive of a population that undertook heavy physical work.
The skeletal remains sample included both males and females, with ages ranging from neonate to over 45 years old. The sample showed a comparatively high incidence of death in childhood, which is not unusual for a medieval/early post-medieval population. More surprising was the fact that the highest adult mortality rate was in the 26-44 years age range, rather than among the elderly, although there are factors that may account for this. Of the individuals that could be positively sexed, there was a slightly higher proportion of females, although due to the nature of the sample the gender of many individuals was uncertain or could not be ascertained.
The human remains recovered during the project are to be re-buried in the churchyard of St. Michael's Church.
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