Gristhorpe Man: an Early Bronze Age log-coffin burial scientifically defined

Melton, Nigel; Montgomery, Janet; Knüsel, Christopher J.; Batt, Cathy; Needham, Stuart; Pearson, Mike Parker; Sheridan, Alison; Heron, Carl; Horsley, Tim; Schmidt, Armin; Evans, Adrian; Carter, Elizabeth; Edwards, Howell; Hargreaves, Michael; Janaway, Rob; Lynnerup, Niels; Northover, Peter; O'Connor, Sonia; Ogden, Alan; Taylor, Timothy; Wastling, Vaughan; Wilson, Andrew

Abstract

A log-coffin excavated in the early nineteenth century proved to be well enough preserved in the early twenty-first century for the full armoury of modern scientific investigation to give its occupants and contents new identity, new origins and a new date. In many ways the interpretation is much the same as before: a local big man buried looking out to sea. Modern analytical techniques can create a person more real, more human and more securely anchored in history. This research team shows how.

Citation

Melton, N., Montgomery, J., Knüsel, C. J., Batt, C., Needham, S., Pearson, M. P., Sheridan, A., Heron, C., Horsley, T., Schmidt, A., Evans, A., Carter, E., Edwards, H., Hargreaves, M., Janaway, R., Lynnerup, N., Northover, P., O'Connor, S., Ogden, A., Taylor, T., …Wilson, A. (2010). Gristhorpe Man: an Early Bronze Age log-coffin burial scientifically defined. Antiquity, 84(325), 796-815. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00100237

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2010
• Deposit Date: Apr 18, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 3, 2011
• Journal: Antiquity
• Print ISSN: 0003-598X
• Electronic ISSN: 1745-1744
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 84
• Issue: 325
• Pages: 796-815
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00100237
• Keywords: Gristhorpe, Early Bronze Age, Log-coffin burials, Elite status, Radiocarbon dating, Stable isotope, Metallurgy, Femur.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1507821