This is fascinating and it proves that England in the Middle Ages was multicultural. But it did get me thinking. Was there racism against Black people in England during this time?.
Yes there are a number of Saxon graves quite close to here, such as at Great Ryburgh, but v pleased to hear about the lady at North Elmham. The attitudes in that study published in 1980…amazing how much of our prejudices we reveal unintentionally!
I came across your well written article today whilst doing a search online for the Fairford burial.
I work at the museum that holds this skeleton. I in fact spent some time today with this skeletal material. I'm going to make an osteological assessment because the narrative for this individual is largely based on cranial metrics which you have mentioned, and a fuller picture may help us to build a better picture of her life.
I have seen signs of pathology already, some of which have the potential to effect skull metrics.
We know that isotope analysis suggested a high likelihood that she was born and raised locally and not migrated.
The museum itself has not developed any narrative about this individual. It's a privilege to work with the known ancient population of the Cotswolds, and all are treated with respect. This might be a person with African ancestry, cranial metrics may not match the racial analytical model, or effects of pathology may exclude the metrics from the analytical model.
So, care must be taken, and ultimately we will need aDNA analysis to have the best chance of knowing this person.
Email me at the museum if you'd like to know more. Perhaps you have osteoarch contacts that might like to help. Jamesharris@slm-ltd.co.uk
This is fascinating and it proves that England in the Middle Ages was multicultural. But it did get me thinking. Was there racism against Black people in England during this time?.
Yes there are a number of Saxon graves quite close to here, such as at Great Ryburgh, but v pleased to hear about the lady at North Elmham. The attitudes in that study published in 1980…amazing how much of our prejudices we reveal unintentionally!
How interesting! I live a few miles from North Elmham and knew nothing about this woman. Thank you
Hello Florence
I came across your well written article today whilst doing a search online for the Fairford burial.
I work at the museum that holds this skeleton. I in fact spent some time today with this skeletal material. I'm going to make an osteological assessment because the narrative for this individual is largely based on cranial metrics which you have mentioned, and a fuller picture may help us to build a better picture of her life.
I have seen signs of pathology already, some of which have the potential to effect skull metrics.
We know that isotope analysis suggested a high likelihood that she was born and raised locally and not migrated.
The museum itself has not developed any narrative about this individual. It's a privilege to work with the known ancient population of the Cotswolds, and all are treated with respect. This might be a person with African ancestry, cranial metrics may not match the racial analytical model, or effects of pathology may exclude the metrics from the analytical model.
So, care must be taken, and ultimately we will need aDNA analysis to have the best chance of knowing this person.
Email me at the museum if you'd like to know more. Perhaps you have osteoarch contacts that might like to help. Jamesharris@slm-ltd.co.uk