Excavating Burials in Anglo-Saxon England

Abstract

Human burials constitute a major source of evidence for human history. Burials excavated by archaeologists may report on both the individual commemorated and on society more broadly. Human remains may be encountered as burnt bone in containers or in pits (cremations), or as skeletons in graves (inhumations), or as mixed collections of bones, created by communal deposition (as in European Neolithic long barrows), or by reburial (charnel). The state of the remains (and their potential for further research) is dependent on the local terrain and consequent degree of decay (see Site and Artifact Preservation: Natural and Cultural Formation Processes DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4419-0426-3_1491 ; that associated with human remains is termed taphonomy). In general, acid soils (e.g., sands and gravels) attack bones, while more alkaline soils (chalk) tend to preserve them better. Anaerobic conditions (excluding air) can preserve the soft tissues. Thus bog burials (seen in the Scandinavian Iron Age) have preserved skin and inner organs and even the last meal of the deceased, but the acid solution of the bog has nevertheless dissolved the bone (Glob 1969).