The working life of Museum of London

Bring the whole family to Museum of London Docklands on Friday 15th April 2011 to learn about Victorian death and disease and meet those involved in the analysis of the burial grounds and skeletal populations from this era.

The Victorian period was a time of great change.  In London, the expanding city saw massive population growth and the development of new industries that were to alter the shape of the city forever.

With this change came an increased pressure on resources, leading to poor sanitation, overcrowded living conditions, increased pollution, poor diet and working conditions. This was to have a significant affect upon human health and life expectancy, and such squalid conditions would have contributed to the rise of disease. 

Epidemics of smallpox, typhoid and cholera spread through the city and infectious diseases such as venereal syphilis and tuberculosis were rife. Rickets, scurvy, dental disease and many other conditions afflicted the population. The London Bills of Mortality record that approximately 40% of deaths occurred in children aged five or below. In the early nineteenth century, almost half the population would not live past their twentieth birthday.

The excavation and analysis of human skeletons from this period can help us to examine and better understand this changing and diverse population.  How the growing city affected the living and working lives of the rich and poor, and how the affects of poverty, deprivation and disease can be seen in the bones of those who lived during this time.

As part of a programme of events run over Easter, there will be an opportunity to discuss and observe the way diseases affected the bones of people from the Victorian era and learn how the study of a skeleton can provide information about age, sex, lifestyle, diet and illness.

Two sessions will be help at the Museum of London Docklands on Friday 15th April 2011: 11:30 – 12: 15 and 13:30 – 14:15

For more information see..

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/London-Wall/Whats-on/Events/eventDetails.htm?eventID=2896

S. Matthews, BA, MSc

This month Sarah Matthews talks about the process of excavating human remains from cremation vessels. Click on the images to see further details of the excavation.

Archaeological investigations in 2010 by the Museum of London Archaeology revealed a number of Roman cremation vessels from a site in Surrey. While many of the vessels had been badly damaged by ploughing, 10 remained intact enough for further study.

The purpose of excavating cremation vessels is to ascertain how efficient the cremation process was, determine the distribution of bone in the vessel, gather knowledge about the pyre, and information about the individual cremated (age, sex and any pathological bone changes) skeleton (McKinley, 2004).

The excavation is carried out by carefully removing the soil from the vessel in spits (2-3cm layers). To begin, a piece of string is placed horizontally across the bucket dividing the vessel into two halves. One half is then excavated carefully and delicately by removing the soil and leaving the bone in place. To do this a variety of small trowels, wooden skewers and small brushes are used. This takes a great deal of patience, even the slightest knock to the bone can cause it to fragment. A plan and section is then drawn before excavating the other half.

The first spit (Picture 2) often contains very little bone, the overall the density of bone increases at the bottom of the vessel. After removing both halves of the spit, any bone uncovered is left in situ, photographed and planned.

Picture 2 (Pot B): Top of Spit two 

Picture 3 (Pot B):  top of Spit Three

Picture 3 shows the bone excavated from spit two revealing a dense quantity of bone. The majority of this bone comprises fragments of long bones, these often fracture in crescent or ‘U shapes’ (McKinley, 2004) running along the shaft. To the lower left corner of the urn a large, flat piece of bone has just been uncovered but is so far unidentified. Due to the density and overlapping nature of cremations often several pieces of bone need to be removed before elements can be uncovered enough to be identified. 

Picture 4 (Pot B): Top of Spit Four

As the excavation continues, the anatomical features of the bone become apparent and the large fragment in the lower left can now be identified as part of a pelvis. Spits are not always easy to keep to an approximate depth and there maybe variations in the depth across the pot. In the centre (Picture 4) the depth could only able to be taken down by 1.5cms due to a large patch of trabecular bone lying just below the surface. It is sometimes necessary to leave soil in place rather than risking destroying the bone.

Picture 5 (Pot B): Top of spit five

Towards the bottom of the pot large pieces of identifiable bone are present. The right side of the pelvis can be seen in Picture 5 with the auricular surface facing towards the centre. Each element is measured, photographed and planned in case it disintegrates further during lifting. Any colour variation is recorded as this may suggest temperature deviations during the cremation. Large identifiable elements are bagged separately with the context and spit numbers marked on the bag. 

Picture 6 (Pot A): Large areas of skull.

Picture six shows the importance of correct planning and excavation. Burning of the bone and shrinkage due to dehydration produces microfractures, these can result in the bone fragmenting during excavation and recovery (McKinley, 2004). The two large areas of skull can be seen in situ and once planned it is possible to tell that a very large piece of skull remained after burning.
 
The most important aspect of excavating cremations is to gain as much information as possible about the bone, the colour and disposition and any finds discovered inside the vessel. Once the bone is washed and dried, further analysis can be carried out to gain further evidence about the individual inside. This helps our understanding of the ritual and processes regarding cremated remains from the past.

For further information see..
Brickley, M. and McKinley, J. 2004. Guidelines to the standard for recording human remains IFA/ BABAO.

This month human osteologist Don Walker talks about the analysis of nineteenth century trauma victims from the Royal London Hospital.

The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, East London is a venerable institution with a rich history of serving the local community, and was featured in a series of historical medical dramas produced by the BBC (‘Casualty 1906’ and ‘Casualty 1907’). The hospital was founded in 1740, and opened on its current site in 1757.

One of the functions of the hospital was as an accident and emergency department accepting ‘special cases necessary to the preservation of life’. Emergency treatment would have saved the lives of many, but the less fortunate would never leave the hospital alive, with the poorest being buried in the hospital grounds.

MOLA excavated 170 burials from the Royal London Hospital grounds, and some of the skeletons revealed evidence of injuries from which they never recovered.

In one example, the skeleton of a 26–35 year old male had an unhealed spiral fracture of the mid-shaft of the right femur (upper leg) (Fig 1). Such a fracture would have required considerable force, probably causing extensive soft tissue damage. The fracture was probably an open, or compound fracture, where the bone was exposed through the skin. In modern times such injuries are often found in young adult males, due to participation in activities with risks of high impact collisions and falls from height (Galloway 1999, 180). Doctors at the London Hospital would have admitted the man on the basis of this life-threatening injury.

Close inspection of the fracture site revealed the early stages of healing in the form of new bone growth, which represents initial callus formation. This indicated that the individual died within approximately three weeks of receiving the injury (Lovell, 1997, 145) (Fig 2).

There are a number of serious complications associated with femoral mid-shaft fractures, some of which may have contributed to the death of this individual. These include blood loss, arterial injury, fat embolisation, shock, infection, as well as associated life-threatening injuries to the viscera or cranium (Resnick 2002, 2870–2). Prior to the availability of antibiotics, infection was common in open wounds and fractures, and this would certainly be a candidate for the cause of death of this man.

There are frequent contemporary reports of victims of accidents being sent to the London Hospital. In one account from The Times of 11th August 1806, a group of bricklayers who were sitting on top of a newly completed house and celebrating their achievement with a gallon of beer, fell to the ground, “one of whom was killed on the spot, and the others were taken to the London Hospital, one of whom has died since the incident, and the other two are not likely to recover” (The Times, Aug 11, 1806). The study of the skeleton of the young man found within the hospital cemetery tells us he suffered a life-threatening injury from which he unfortunately never recovered.

In a further example of unhealed injuries, a 26–35 year old female from the hospital cemetery had fractures to some of the vertebral bodies of the spine, possibly due to a fall onto the feet or buttocks (Galloway 1999, 95) (Fig 3; Fig 4).

In this case, there was no evidence of healing at all, suggesting that she died immediately or soon after the incident (known as ‘perimortem’ injury). From an osteological point of view, the illustrated vertebrae provide good examples of unhealed bone lesions, with sharp edges and an absence of new bone growth or repair.

Galloway, A (ed), 1999 Broken bones: anthropological analysis of blunt force trauma, Springfield, IL
Lovell, N C, 1997 Trauma Analysis in Paleopathology, Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 40,139–70
Resnick, D, 2002 Diagnosis of bone and joint disorders, Philadelphia
The Times, Aug 11, 1806; pg. 3; Issue 6813; col C

This month osteologist Brian Connell talks about the human skeletons excavated at the City Bunhill burial ground, Golden Lane, London.

Archaeological excavations by MOLAS in 2006 uncovered 239 human skeletons from the City Bunhill burial ground. This nonconformist burial ground was in use from 1833 to 1853 and was very intensively used with over 18,000 burials taking place over a relatively short period of just 20 years. This was located in a poor area, with a high Irish immigrant population, many of whom would have been buried within this ground.

The skeletons provided a fascinating insight into the mortality and morbidity of an early 19th century population and provided a snap-shot of what daily life must have been like in this area, to the north of the City of London. The demography of the assemblage revealed an equal number of adult men and women and a high proportion of children. Just over half the individuals were under 18 years old when they died and the high mortality rate in children aged under five was most striking. Such a high rate is fairly typical for a 19th century urban population, particularly one at the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum. The physical characteristics of the population were also assessed by comparing adult height, this data demonstrated that for both men and women there were no significant differences from other London groups.

The City Bunhill assemblage provided a wealth of information about the diseases from which the buried population suffered including metabolic, infectious, congenital and neoplastic conditions. There were several cases of congenital abnormalities (from birth), but the majority of these were minor and would not have been life-threatening or even symptomatic.

There was an unusual case of spondylolysis (separation of the posterior aspect of a vertebrae) (see picture) in a 7-8 year old child, this condition is normally seen in adults and only rarely in children. It is possible that this was related to occupation, perhaps demonstrating that young children were pressed into physical labour at a young age.

Most notable among the metabolic conditions was the high number of rickets cases.  Rickets is widely reported in urban skeletal assemblages of this period. There was only one case of residual rickets in an adult, most cases were in young children.

A particularly unusual feature observed in the children with rickets was the high number of pathological fractures. Such fractures are not generally reported in other burial groups from London during this period. It is interesting therefore to consider whether these fractures were sustained entirely through a softening of the bones, or whether any other factors – such as harsh physical conditions or child abuse – may have contributed to the broken limbs of these sickly children (see picture).

Further details about this excavation can be found in the recent MOLA publication ‘The City Bunhill burial ground, Golden Lane, London: excavations at South Islington schools, 2006′ available in the museum shop and through the following link..

http://www.museumoflondonarchaeology.org.uk/English/Publications/

This week I was lucky enough to venture into the very depths of the Museum of London to meet Jelena Bekvalac and her team in Human Osteology where they are slowly but surely reassembling and recording the skeletons of Londoners from a 2000 year period. This mammoth task includes separating and cataloguing the bones of everyone from plague victims to newborn babies.

The plague, or the Black Death, is a particularly interesting period in London’s history; it was both short and dramatic, hitting hardest in 1349 to 50. Whilst outbreaks of plague in London would continue throughout the following two centuries (and still occur throughout undeveloped parts of the world), the largest death toll occurred in a very brief period. Families were wiped out, whole neighbourhoods destroyed and the landscape of the medieval city was changed for good.

Chatting to Jelena and the team, one thing became clear, that the architecture of ‘catastrophe cemeteries’ has changed little over hundreds of years. When the need arises to bury many bodies in a very short space of time, multiple burials or ‘pits’ are how it works. The London Plague Pits are remarkable in their construction, forming two long trenches rather than rough holes, indicating some order and forethought. This is, as far as is known, a unique site.

London’s plague pits in East Smithfield are, of their type, the finest and most complete in the world, matched only by a similar Black Death catastrophe cemetery of similar age in Germany. Catastrophe cemeteries are invaluable in providing a ‘living cross-section’ of society. This sounds strange, but as plague is an indiscriminate and ‘unnatural’ killer, the cemetery contains the remains of Londoners from every strata of the city and from tiny babies to healthy youths, all the way to the elderly. Jelena and her team have worked with the remains disinterred from this cemetery to reconstruct a picture of the city in those years. The results are fascinating.

Jelena will be speaking on excavations undertaken at the catastrophe cemetery at East Smithfield (upon which the Royal Mint was subsequently built), at the upcoming Museum of London free Lunchtime Lecture.

The medieval period saw much violence, with warfare, crime and civil unrest rife throughout (Powers 2005). Occasionally, evidence of such fighting is revealed in the bones of past populations, offering a glimpse into the lives of those who lived and died at this time.

The archaeological excavation of a possible 13th century medieval hospital burial ground at St Peter’s Wharf, Maidstone, Kent by MOLA between 2008-2009 revealed one individual who had suffered severe injuries to the skull. These were most likely the result of blows to the head from a bladed weapon (sharp force trauma).

An adult male had a fine, linear cut mark running across the right side of the forehead. Above this, a large rectangular, scooped out flake of bone had become detached revealing areas of underlying polished bone. Similar linear cut marks were observed to the right side of the head (temporal and parietal). These injuries only penetrated the outer surface of the skull and may have resulted from repeated glancing blows that caused the bone to fracture. At the back of the skull there was an extensive deep horizontal wound that had penetrated the internal structures (endocranium) and may have made contact with the brain.

In total this individual had evidence of at least four separate blade wounds. Multiple head injuries appear not to have been an uncommon occurrence. Examples of multiple wounds have been found at several contemporary sites in Britain suggesting that the head was often the main target of attack.

The linear nature of these lesions without large irregularities, absence of terminal fractures, defined clean edges and one surface that was flat and smooth suggested a sharp bladed weapon was used. The cut to the back of the skull had a minimum length of 104mm suggesting a longer blade, possibly a sword (Wenham 1989).

The severity of the penetrating injuries would most likely have ended this individual’s life. There was no evidence of new bone formation that would indicate healing. This suggested that the injuries were received immediately before or shortly after death.

Whether this individual died in the heat of battle, was attacked or even suffered the injuries when already disabled or dead cannot be determined. However, a healed depressed fracture to the top of the skull indicated the survival of an old wound. This may have been received during a previous fight, possibly warfare, and may tentatively suggest a professional soldier who lived to participate in further battles.

Further details of this excavation will be covered in an upcoming article in the journal Archaeologia Cantiana

This month zoologist Alan Pipe talks about the resources for the identification of fish and wild bird bones from archaeological sites in London…

Viewers of ‘Time Team’ and readers of archaeological site reports will be familiar with the recovery of animal bones from a wide range of species, usually dominated by those of domesticated mammals of major economic value for meat, milk, wool or traction. With increased wet-sieving of bulk soil samples, particularly over the past four decades, archaeological recovery of smaller species from all vertebrate groups; fish, amphibians, reptiles, small birds and mammals, continues to expand.

London sites produce particularly diverse assemblages of fish and wild birds and each unfamiliar ‘new’ species presents challenges in identification, indeed some bones are not identifiable to species-level. Museum of London Archaeology holds a useful reference collection used for identification purposes. This concentrates mainly on British fish, birds and mammals and has been built up over the years as a valuable resource in support of MOLA zooarchaeological studies.

Even with access to a reference collection and the increasing availability of reference literature and images, the relatively unfamiliar morphology, fragmentation and often small size, of archaeological fish bones are obstacles to their recovery and identification and this has resulted in their relative neglect by many workers and a reliance on external specialists.

 In an attempt to improve our own internal capability, MOLA Osteology has now established a solid nucleus reference collection of the economically important freshwater (e.g. pike), marine/estuarine (e.g. herring and cod) and migratory (e.g. salmon and eel) species most commonly encountered on London sites.  Researchers interested in studying the fauna of London should contact the LAARC

The growth of industry and advent of new manufacturing techniques brought with it associated occupational hazards for those going to work in the factories, building sites, dockyards and railways of 19^th century London. This could involve fractured bones resulting from falls from heights, amputation of limbs that were caught in machinery, burns and other workplace incidents. Another cause of illness at work was related to the materials and chemicals involved. One example of this was known as ‘phossy jaw’, where the vapor emitted during the manufacture of ‘strike anywhere’ matches could result in gangrene if the poisonous phosphorous fumes penetrated the jaw bone (Picard 2005). This could lead to the formation of an abscess and disfigurment with surgical removal of the jaw bone the only treatment.

The excavation of St Mary and St Michael Church, Whitechapel by MOLA revealed one possible example of this affliction.  The skeletal remains of an adult male aged 26-35 years displayed active, localised bone changes to the mandible (lower jaw). There were areas of fine pitting together with occasional large pits to the buccal (cheek facing) and lingual (tongue facing) surfaces of the jaw. Towards the mandibular rami (posterior jaw) were areas of eroded bone that revealed the underlying spongy bone structure. The outer cortex of the bone also appeared abnormally thickened.

Radiographs of the jaw revealed regions of irregular, thinned bone and also areas of increased thickening towards the mentum (chin). While a diagnosis of ‘phossy jaw’ is difficult to prove conclusively, this helped to identify osteonecrosis of the mandible, a condition where the blood supply to the bone is disrupted resulting in the necrosis (death of bone cells). Such changes may also be caused by a range of other conditions and infections such as syphilis.

The identification of this condition from excavated skeletal remains provides a rare glimpse into the dangers faced in the work place and the changes related to the expansion of cities and industrialisation at this time

By Dr James Morris

Recently I’ve been working on the animal bone from the Royal London Hospital (RLP05) excavated by MOLA in 2006. Some of this consists of waste from the hospital kitchens, and gives us fascinating evidence for the diet of both the patients and staff. The hospital was founded in 1740 and archaeological evidence suggests that the associated burial ground was in use from 1820-1854. The remains give a brilliant opportunity to combine the zooarchaeological data with the historical records, which show hospital food has never been great.

However, amongst the animal remains were a number of more unusual finds which were not from the hospital kitchen. Attached to the hospital was an anatomy school and many of the animal bones appear to originate from the activities carried out there. This includes a number of dissected cows, sheep, horses, dogs, cats and rabbit s, buried as partial or complete skeletons. We even have evidence that some of the skeletons were wired together to be used in teaching anatomy. There have also been a number of surprises including the skull of a guinea pig, the partial skeleton of a tortoise and a headless monkey. The tortoise was missing the skull, shell and most of its feet, which may have been kept by the anatomy school or deposited elsewhere. Similarly the lack of the monkey’s skull and neck vertebrae would suggest that the head had been kept by the anatomists.

As a British based zooarchaeologist, finds of tortoise and monkey are incredibly rare, and therefore we needed to turn to experts outside the Museum of London for help to identify the bones to a specific species. If you have been watching the BBC’s ‘Museum of Life’ with Jimmy Doherty (who makes very nice sausages, I’m lucky enough to live close to his farm) you’ll know that we have one of the world’s best zoological collections in London at the Natural History Museum. So it was with some excitement that I made my way to the Natural History Museum, only to arrive there and realise I’d gone to a free museum during a school holiday. After battling through the crowds, I was lead by Colin McCarthy, Collections Manager for Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish, to the museum’s old dry store number one. If you saw the first Museum of Life show it’s the amazingly huge store full of a host of old specimens ranging from zebra to tortoises (have a look at episode 1, 17min 40sec into the program). I could have stayed in there for days, but under Colin’s excellent guidance we quickly identified the tortoise as being a European tortoise either Greek or Herman’s.

Identification of the monkey required me to visit the zoological department and the mammals collection which is held over a number of different floors at the back of the museum. Identification of the monkey was much trickier and involved a good few hours examining different skeletons held in the museum’s collection. The monkey collection is held in row upon row of metal cabinets that don’t have windows. That means you need to be prepared for a surprise when searching the collection. At one point, standing on a step ladder to access an upper cabinet, I did open a door to be greeted face to face with a snarling monkey. Fortunately it was an old stuffed specimen, unfortunately, by the time I realised that I’d already undone any reputation I had as a cool zooarchaeologist by letting out a manly yelp, much to the amusement of the other researchers using the collection. Eventually we identified the monkey as a Mona Monkey, which comes from south-west Africa.

You may ask why go to such trouble to identify these species? Well, the tortoise may be one of the earliest archaeological examples of tortoise from the United Kingdom, and the Mona monkey is the first example of such a species to have been found archaeologically, certainly in London and possibly in the United Kingdom. Analysis of the specimens and the site is still ongoing, but these skeletons show how far and wide animals were traded at the beginning of the 1800s: the tortoise is likely to have come to London from the eastern Mediterranean and the Monkey from south-west Africa.

The next step is to investigate how the anatomy school acquired such animals and why, and what they were used? Identifying the bones to a species is just the beginning of the investigation.

A big thank you to Colin McCarthy, Louise Tomsett and Paula Jenkins for helping arrange my Natural History Museum visit and helping me on the day.
 
You can also find out more about my background and my other research at http://www.animalbones.org

 Dental disease and other afflictions of the teeth were suffered by many in the nineteenth century. The analysis of skeletons from St Mary and St Michael, Whitechapel, London revealed over 80% of adults with carious lesions (cavities) and 90% with mineralized plaque deposits (calculus) stuck to the surfaces of their teeth. This suggested a starchy diet that was high in carbohydrates and containing sugars, as well as poor oral hygiene. Almost 80% of individuals had also lost at least some of their teeth during life, most likely through decay and disease.

 The nineteenth century also saw major advances in the practice of dentistry and the development of new restorative techniques. New materials such as amalgam (mercury and metal) were introduced to fill cavities and prosthetics were used to replace missing teeth (Roberts and Cox 2003: 323).

These false teeth could be made of ivory, bone or porcelain and human teeth were also often used. These came from live donors or could be extracted from the dead, earning some extra money for body snatchers if the bodies they exhumed were too decayed to sell to anatomists (Richardson 1988).

 An example of dental work was recovered during the excavation by MOLA of  the cemetery of St Mary and St Michael. A maxillary (upper jaw) prosthesis was found associated with an adult female burial. This comprised a thin plate of rose-gold coloured metal that was carefully fitted around the remaining teeth. A high degree of skill had been used in the construction of this item and the metal was molded around the gums and palate in order to hold it in place. Four ceramic teeth were fixed in place by small gold pins. These replaced the right premolars, left second premolar and first molar teeth that had been lost during the individuals life. A dark material to the central aspect of the occlussal (biting surface) of the right secondary molar suggested that this person had also had a cavity filled.

This evidence provides an important glimpse into the types of dental treatment available. However, the construction of such dentures would have required considerable time and skill and would have remained out of reach of many individuals from poorer backgrounds in London.