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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).
H Snelling 2011 Page 2 of 14
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
H Snelling 2011 Page 3 of 14
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.
H Snelling 2011 Page 4 of 14
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
H Snelling 2011 Page 5 of 14
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.
H Snelling 2011 Page 6 of 14
Figure 1. Right and Left Femur. Scale in 10 mm increments.
Figure 2. Right arm bones. Scale in 10 mm increments.
H Snelling 2011 Page 7 of 14
Figure 3. Mandible. Scale in 10 mm increments.
Figure 4. Tooth crown formation in-situ of mandible. No Scale shown.
H Snelling 2011 Page 8 of 14
Figure 5. Ilia. Scale in 10 mm increments.
H Snelling 2011 Page 9 of 14
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
H Snelling 2011 Page 10 of 14
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
H Snelling 2011 Page 11 of 14
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
H Snelling 2011 Page 12 of 14
References
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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
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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.