Yahairy Aguilar November 16, 2023 Saxon Cemetery Mortuary Analysis Worksheet Burial 005 Burial 027 Burial 032 Sex Age Range M 10-14 y/o Quality of Life, Cause of Death, and Status The preteen boy was buried on the northwest side of the site with just his body with no belongings. He had stab wounds on his ribs that were near the vertebral column (spine). His humerus and cranial were fully fused except his radius, femur, tibia, and clavicle. He also perceived a downward smile, like he’d been sad for a long time. It turns out, his mother abandoned him and has been on his own. No one has ever been searching for him. His classmates stabbed him in the playground with an iron tool as a “prank” to see if the teacher would search for him. The teacher didn’t go searching for him until it was dismissal because a backpack was left and it is assumed she buried him hiddenly and never reported the death. M 21-30 y/o Quality of Life, Cause of Death, and Status The adult male was fully fused and buried on the northwest side of the site with an undecorated ceramic pot filled with ashes. The ashes were labeled “Jennifer L Moore '' which could have been his wife, sister, or daughter that was buried with his body. Whoever it was, they were an important person to his life. The cause of his death was because he had extremely polished bone caps which means he had arthritis. It was so severe that the treatment wasn’t strong enough for the stage his joints were in. His teeth had extensive wear which caused his teeth to have a plaque which is bacteria that begins to form and build on your teeth. Overall, this individual died of natural causes such as severe arthritis, bad hygiene but he was important and cared for since he was buried with something that belongs to him. F 21-30 y/o Quality of Life, Cause of Death, and Status The adult female had a wider pelvis than the males and was fully fused. The individual was buried in the south of the site with a heavy stone slab placed over the cranium. Those who are buried on the south side of the site are those who were executed or had some sort of punishment that resulted in death. As I lifted the slab with my gloves, I noticed that she had received blunt trauma on her head. It was an odd sight but it seemed like a wrecking ball dropped on her head and squashed it. As I continued my investigation, I noticed that she has a bronze brooch on her right arm but the signature design is from a famous jeweler from Anglo Saxon history. It was a very heavy heirloom made of bronze but I wondered why it was placed here if no one except the higher hierarchy can afford this jewelry. My final conclusion is that this individual was doing hard labor for the jeweler and realized the compensation did not match the work she put into the business. Therefore, she tried to steal a piece of jewelry to resell it and keep the profit for her and her family. It can be inferred that the famous jeweler executed the adult female worker because they caught her stealing jewelry. Burial 079 Burial 124 Burial 132 F 16-19 y/o Quality of Life, Cause of Death, and Status The young adult female was buried on the west side of the site which is most likely where important people with wealth got buried. She was most likely a queen or a princess during Anglo Saxon’s history. The young adult female had the majority of her bones fused such as her cranial, humorous, radius, and femur. There were bones that were unfused such as the proximal tibia and the proximal clavicle. Which gives an approximate age range of 16-22. She also had minimal wear on her teeth which is pretty normal for her age but she didn't have her 3rd molar come in which indicates she's about 17-21 years of age. She was buried with a variety of valuable items such as bronze beads, gold bracteates, two blue glass bowls in a small wooden box, three gold rings, and a gold crown. It’s important to note that the crown was still placed on her head. Based on my observations, she didn’t die off of natural causes that are visible but could have had internal causes such as scurvy, internal bleeding, cancer, heart disease, ect. Before modern day technology, people didn’t know if they had other illnesses or diseases that are not visible. Therefore, people didn’t have a large lifespan like we do today because we can detect these illnesses with technology before it gets worse. She was highly praised because she was buried with her valuables and was placed next to her son (124). M 9-13 months Quality of Life, Cause of Death, and Status The baby male was buried on the west side of the site along with the queen or princess. Since the baby was buried near her, this shows that he was her son. He was buried with no valuables but he got the privilege to be buried beside his mother and kept his wealth and reputation known. The baby is about 9-13 months old due to the fact that he has no epiphyseal fusions and his upper and lower incisors erupted. His first molar has yet to come in. He also has an unfused anterior fontanelle which closes between 12-18 months after birth therefore it should’ve closed soon but his life ended too soon. The baby male had no signs of trauma or disease. It can be inferred that he passed due to starvation. Since his mother (079) passed from internal causes, no one was around to take care of him which led to his tragic death. M 21-30 y/o Quality of Life, Cause of Death, and Status The adult male had a slimmer pelvis than the females and his bones were fully fused. The individual was buried on the Northwest side. It seems like all the people who are noble, well behaved and mannered that had some sort of trauma or disease were placed on the Northwest side of the site. Burial 005, 027, and 132 have some sort of trauma or disease but don’t have their faces covered as in burial 032. In addition to all bones being fully fused, all his permanent teeth have erupted except now he has extensive abscess on his 2nd molar. His tooth has an infection that spreads to the bone and eventually creates a hole in your bone. He also had a broken femur which can be inferred he acquired that in battle. He was buried with an iron sword and a leather shield in his hand. He held on to the remainder of what was left of the shield. Based on the details given, it can be inferred that he passed due to natural causes, he had extensive abscess on his second molar and a broken femur. Dealing with so much physical pain with no treatment can eventually lead to death even though it could’ve been prevented with the necessary resources.
