Skeletal analysis also afforded us an opportunity to see how the occupants lived and, in the case of one person, died. This particular individual, who showed evidence of having had osteoarthritis, likely died as a result of a deep wound to their thigh which was caused by a sharp-edged heavy object. As the bone did not show any signs of healing it means that this person sustained the wound around the time of their death. We can’t know for certain whether this was an accident, such as a failed amputation, or deliberate, for example sustained during combat.
The skeleton of another individual showed Schmorl’s nodes, which suggest that she may have suffered from trauma such as a fall from height, heavy lifting, or physical exercise during her adolescent years.
Perhaps the most interesting cremation was the remains of a young child contained within a smaller, secondary urn which had been placed upside down within a larger one. It is possible that the individual was deliberately placed within this secondary urn in order to symbolise the protection afforded to young people.
The radiocarbon analysis suggests that this cemetery may have been in use for as much as 400 years, but more likely around 150 years, before falling out of use at some point approaching the middle of the second millennium BC. The earth bank of the cemetery was pushed back into the ring ditch at some point following the abandonment of the site and was then ploughed over and the ground cultivated leaving the ground surface flat with no surface trace of the underlying burial ground. The site then remained hidden until our excavation in 2018.