High-status prehistoric man and rare Bronze Age dagger go on public display after 23 years in storageClick on the picture to launch
© Courtesy The Novium Twenty-five years after delivering the dagger-clutching warrior he never forgot to museum stores at Fishbourne, James Kenny, the archaeologist for Chichester District Council, says new tests funded by the authority and the South Downs National Park have allowed a comprehensive picture of the high-status man to be put together.
Kenny was reminiscing with Dr Stuart Needham, an equally amiable expert in Bronze Age archaeology, when their conversation compelled the pair to reinvestigate the skeleton known as Racton Man in 2012, using vastly-improved modern scientific techniques.
“The fact that James mentioned rivets made my ears prick up,” says Dr Needham, recalling the spark for a project of rediscovery which has united a team of experts since it began two years ago.
“I didn’t know there was a dagger burial anywhere in the south, and I thought I knew all the dagger burials across the country.
James Kenny (right) and Dr Stuart Needham take a look at the displayed skeleton“So of course I had to rush to the stores over at Fishbourne and was able to establish that it was as I suspected. Just in its own right it was of importance.
“But I could see that there was further potential in researching the finds because there are all these new techniques that weren’t available in 1989 – particularly the isotopic analysis of human bones and teeth.”
A molar which erupted during the man’s childhood was sacrificed for the examination, suggesting that he could have come from Devon or Cornwall. The new display case at Chichester’s intriguing Novium, the museum which opened in July 2012 and played an important role in the research, points to a potentially fatal, unhealed blade mark on his arm and a chronic sinus infection.
“He was a man of extremely high status: I think almost certainly a fighting man and certainly some sort of leader, a big man, with an extremely rare and valuable artefact,” says Kenny, who vividly remembers being told of the original discovery by a metal detectorist.
“We knew it was the sort of dagger that you usually found in burials so we decided to do an excavation of the site to see if we could find the human remains.
Racton Man has gone on show at The Novium“We did a quick metal detection ourselves and found around 20 bronze rivets spread around.
“We opened up an excavation of the area and, sure enough, there was Racton Man – a very well-preserved skeleton of a man lying in a foetal position.
“We investigated, recorded, I wrote a full report and we stuck him in the museum until 23 years later.”
The weapon is one of the earliest Bronze Age objects ever found in Britain, pointing to the transition from copper production to bronze and the advance of prehistoric industrial technology.
“It really was a chance discovery; you couldn’t have predicted it.
“It is in an area of West Sussex where recent evidence has suggested there was significant settlement activity.
“The more we look, the more we find – it’s demonstrated that it wasn’t an empty landscape. It was full – not of a massive population, but of a disparate population of people living and farming the land.
The original excavation took place in 1989© Courtesy The Novium“Just a few hundred years after that, the evidence suggests field systems all the way across the Downs area. If the landscape was that densely utilised by the middle Bronze Age, it would have been well populated at this stage.”
“It seemed to be just buried on an ancient soil in the corner of a field,” Kenny says of the burial.
“There was no evidence of a ditch, such as you would normally get in a barrow, nor of a mound.
“That may be because there was no ditch and the mound was made out of turf. Anything man-made may have been ploughed to destruction over a couple of thousand years.
“The skeleton is virtually complete and in very good condition for the age. I think some of the smaller bones may have got mislaid – possibly some of the small toe bones.
“And the scientific techniques will continue to develop – maybe in 25 years’ time we could have someone standing here saying ‘look what we’ve found now.'”
Experts revisited the site in 2012© Courtesy The Novium
Racton ManHow tall was he?
He is estimated to have been about six foot (1.82 metres tall).
How was his state of health and how did he die?
Osteological analysis (examination of the bones) has unearthed some interesting evidence of illness and injury. The skeleton displays signs of spinal degeneration – probably age-related – and he evidently also suffered from a chronic sinus infection, an abscess and tooth decay.
Other intriguing features were also identified on the bones. Evidence was found of a peri-mortem cut (at or near the time of death) to the right upper arm bone, close to the elbow.
There is no sign of this having healed. Neither of the forearm bones were affected. This is consistent with the arm being raised, elbow bent above the head, to protect it from a blow or strike from a weapon.
There is less positive evidence for a similar blow having struck the lower part of the right shoulder, under the armpit. A sharp force blow to these parts of the body would have been consistent with a double strike, one to the head blocked by the raised right arm, and a second deep into the armpit, presumably to sever the major blood vessels in this area.
Where did he come from?
Isotope analysis, the study of certain stable isotopes (in this instance Strontium, Oxygen and Carbon from within the tooth of this individual) can be used within archaeology to help determine information such as diet and place of origin of an individual.
The values seen in Racton Man are entirely consistent with origins in England, but this is not 100 percent proven – there are other places in Europe that would also provide the same values.
The Strontium isotope ratio is not consistent with him having been brought up on the chalk of the region, but that may not rule out some of the other local geologies, such as the brick earth of the coastal plain.
Oxygen isotopes for this individual are consistent with the place of burial near the south coast of England and high enough to rule out much of central, eastern and northern Britain and northern Europe.
What is his dagger made from?
The x-ray Fluorescence was undertaken to determine impurities within the metal. The dagger and all of its rivets were found to be made from bronze – an alloy consisting of copper and tin.
Where did the metal in his dagger come from?
The most frequently encountered metal impurity compositions dating to the early Bronze Age (A-metal from Ross Island, Co Kerry and from Atlantic parts of mainland Europe) were not discovered in the dagger from this burial.
Instead, it appears to have been an ‘Arsenic only’ metal. This metal was circulating widely in Atlantic Continental Europe at this time, but is only rarely found in objects from Britain.
The dagger, however, is not of a continental type and would have been made in southern Britain.
Was this dagger ever used?
It is impossible to say, but examination under a microscope has revealed evidence that the blade edges were sharpened for use.
Who was he?
Evidence shows that this individual suffered some terrible trauma during his lifetime – but why? He could have been a senior member of society, a tribal leader, a warrior or a religious figure, according to curatorial speculation.
What do you think? Leave a comment below.
© Courtesy The Novium Twenty-five years after delivering the dagger-clutching warrior he never forgot to museum stores at Fishbourne, James Kenny, the archaeologist for Chichester District Council, says new tests funded by the authority and the South Downs National Park have allowed a comprehensive picture of the high-status man to be put together.
Kenny was reminiscing with Dr Stuart Needham, an equally amiable expert in Bronze Age archaeology, when their conversation compelled the pair to reinvestigate the skeleton known as Racton Man in 2012, using vastly-improved modern scientific techniques.
“The fact that James mentioned rivets made my ears prick up,” says Dr Needham, recalling the spark for a project of rediscovery which has united a team of experts since it began two years ago.
“I didn’t know there was a dagger burial anywhere in the south, and I thought I knew all the dagger burials across the country.
James Kenny (right) and Dr Stuart Needham take a look at the displayed skeleton“So of course I had to rush to the stores over at Fishbourne and was able to establish that it was as I suspected. Just in its own right it was of importance.
“But I could see that there was further potential in researching the finds because there are all these new techniques that weren’t available in 1989 – particularly the isotopic analysis of human bones and teeth.”
A molar which erupted during the man’s childhood was sacrificed for the examination, suggesting that he could have come from Devon or Cornwall. The new display case at Chichester’s intriguing Novium, the museum which opened in July 2012 and played an important role in the research, points to a potentially fatal, unhealed blade mark on his arm and a chronic sinus infection.
“He was a man of extremely high status: I think almost certainly a fighting man and certainly some sort of leader, a big man, with an extremely rare and valuable artefact,” says Kenny, who vividly remembers being told of the original discovery by a metal detectorist.
“We knew it was the sort of dagger that you usually found in burials so we decided to do an excavation of the site to see if we could find the human remains.
Racton Man has gone on show at The Novium“We did a quick metal detection ourselves and found around 20 bronze rivets spread around.
“We opened up an excavation of the area and, sure enough, there was Racton Man – a very well-preserved skeleton of a man lying in a foetal position.
“We investigated, recorded, I wrote a full report and we stuck him in the museum until 23 years later.”
The weapon is one of the earliest Bronze Age objects ever found in Britain, pointing to the transition from copper production to bronze and the advance of prehistoric industrial technology.
“It really was a chance discovery; you couldn’t have predicted it.
“It is in an area of West Sussex where recent evidence has suggested there was significant settlement activity.
“The more we look, the more we find – it’s demonstrated that it wasn’t an empty landscape. It was full – not of a massive population, but of a disparate population of people living and farming the land.
The original excavation took place in 1989© Courtesy The Novium“Just a few hundred years after that, the evidence suggests field systems all the way across the Downs area. If the landscape was that densely utilised by the middle Bronze Age, it would have been well populated at this stage.”
“It seemed to be just buried on an ancient soil in the corner of a field,” Kenny says of the burial.
“There was no evidence of a ditch, such as you would normally get in a barrow, nor of a mound.
“That may be because there was no ditch and the mound was made out of turf. Anything man-made may have been ploughed to destruction over a couple of thousand years.
“The skeleton is virtually complete and in very good condition for the age. I think some of the smaller bones may have got mislaid – possibly some of the small toe bones.
“And the scientific techniques will continue to develop – maybe in 25 years’ time we could have someone standing here saying ‘look what we’ve found now.'”
Experts revisited the site in 2012© Courtesy The Novium
Racton ManHow tall was he?
He is estimated to have been about six foot (1.82 metres tall).
How was his state of health and how did he die?
Osteological analysis (examination of the bones) has unearthed some interesting evidence of illness and injury. The skeleton displays signs of spinal degeneration – probably age-related – and he evidently also suffered from a chronic sinus infection, an abscess and tooth decay.
Other intriguing features were also identified on the bones. Evidence was found of a peri-mortem cut (at or near the time of death) to the right upper arm bone, close to the elbow.
There is no sign of this having healed. Neither of the forearm bones were affected. This is consistent with the arm being raised, elbow bent above the head, to protect it from a blow or strike from a weapon.
There is less positive evidence for a similar blow having struck the lower part of the right shoulder, under the armpit. A sharp force blow to these parts of the body would have been consistent with a double strike, one to the head blocked by the raised right arm, and a second deep into the armpit, presumably to sever the major blood vessels in this area.
Where did he come from?
Isotope analysis, the study of certain stable isotopes (in this instance Strontium, Oxygen and Carbon from within the tooth of this individual) can be used within archaeology to help determine information such as diet and place of origin of an individual.
The values seen in Racton Man are entirely consistent with origins in England, but this is not 100 percent proven – there are other places in Europe that would also provide the same values.
The Strontium isotope ratio is not consistent with him having been brought up on the chalk of the region, but that may not rule out some of the other local geologies, such as the brick earth of the coastal plain.
Oxygen isotopes for this individual are consistent with the place of burial near the south coast of England and high enough to rule out much of central, eastern and northern Britain and northern Europe.
What is his dagger made from?
The x-ray Fluorescence was undertaken to determine impurities within the metal. The dagger and all of its rivets were found to be made from bronze – an alloy consisting of copper and tin.
Where did the metal in his dagger come from?
The most frequently encountered metal impurity compositions dating to the early Bronze Age (A-metal from Ross Island, Co Kerry and from Atlantic parts of mainland Europe) were not discovered in the dagger from this burial.
Instead, it appears to have been an ‘Arsenic only’ metal. This metal was circulating widely in Atlantic Continental Europe at this time, but is only rarely found in objects from Britain.
The dagger, however, is not of a continental type and would have been made in southern Britain.
Was this dagger ever used?
It is impossible to say, but examination under a microscope has revealed evidence that the blade edges were sharpened for use.
Who was he?
Evidence shows that this individual suffered some terrible trauma during his lifetime – but why? He could have been a senior member of society, a tribal leader, a warrior or a religious figure, according to curatorial speculation.
What do you think? Leave a comment below.
fonte: @edisonmariotti #edisonmariotti http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art510103-archaeologists-invite-public-to-ponder-mysteries-as-high-status-prehistoric-racton-man-goes-on-display
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