THE ROMANO-BRITISH HUMAN BONE FROM FOLLY LANE, ST ALBANS (1991-92 EXCAVATIONS)
Author(s): Simon Mays, J Steele
Twenty-two cremations and seven inhumations, recovered during excavations of a Romano-British site on the edge of Roman Verulamium are examined. An unusual find was a cremation burial of 1st century AD date with a large funerary chamber, within a sub-rectangular enclosure. Study of the bone from this context revealed the quantity of human remains to be small, a finding which parallels that on similar burials from Stanway, Essex. Perhaps burial of substantial quantities of human remains did not form an important part of the funerary treatment of these, presumably high-status, individuals.In another part of the site, a skull from a 2nd century AD pit showed perforations and cut marks. The perforations may have resulted from injuries which caused death or may have been mutilations visited upon a lifeless (but still fairly fresh) corpse. The cut marks appear to reflect defleshing of the skull. Close parallels to this specimen are difficult to find from Roman contexts either in Britain or in northern continental Europe.An inhumation burial of 1st century AD date showed evidence suggestive of tuberculosis, making it one of the earliest cases of the disease from Britain.
- Report Number:
- 19/1995
- Series:
- AML Reports (New Series)
- Pages:
- 31
- Keywords:
- Human Bone Human Remains
