conflict or disaster? investigating a mass burial found near st. michael's abbey, antwerp...
DESCRIPTION
Poster presented at the Dead Men Talking Conference, Koksijde (B), 2015TRANSCRIPT
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CONFLICT OR DISASTER? INVESTIGATING A MASS BURIAL FOUND NEAR ST. MICHAEL’S ABBEY, ANTWERP (BELGIUM)
1 Research location on a historical map of Antwerp (Plan de la ville et citadelle d’Anvers, around 1710; Antwerp City Archives)
2 Research location on a present-day map of Antwerp (Department of Archaeology, City of Antwerp)
3 View of trial trenches during fi eldwork in 2010, looking west (Department of Archaeology, City of Antwerp)
4 Trial trenches along Sint-Michielskaai: mass burial (red), St. Michael’s abbey (black) and St. Michael’s bastion as a part of the Napoleonic quays
(green) (Department of Archaeology, City of Antwerp)
5 Partly preserved skeletal remains during excavation (north at right; Department of Archaeology, City of Antwerp)
6 Map of excavated individuals, based on fi eld drawings and recording (Department of Archaeology, City of Antwerp)
7 Radiocarbon dating of individuals SK11 and SK5 (Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage)
8 Preparing samples for research at the forensic DNA laboratory (University Hospital Antwerp)
9 Excavated skeletal remains of individual SK5, buried on her (his?) right side, legs drawn up
(north at left; Department of Archaeology, City of Antwerp)
10 Excavated skeletal remains of individual SK11, an 18 month-old child (north at right; Department of Archaeology, City of Antwerp)
ILLUSTRATIONS
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Sk 1
Sk 2
Sk 3
Sk 4
Sk 5
Sk 6
Sk 7
Sk 8
Sk 9
Sk 10
Sk 11
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Preventive archaeological fi eldwork in 2010 at Sint-Michielskaai in Antwerp unearthed an enigmatic burial, considered to be a mass grave, dating to the 10th century AD. Radiocarbon dating, forensic anthropology and mitochondrial DNA research was applied to investigate the origin and nature of the burial. Furthermore, questions arose whether this location was related to the St. Michael’s abbey predecessors and to what extent this could be of importance to our knowledge of the early urban development of Antwerp.
Underneath a late 19th century cobblestone pavement and debris, urban archaeologists of the City of Antwerp discovered a pit containing skeletal remains of at least nine individuals. Buried in atypical positions, i.e. on top of each other, facedown or with legs drawn up, grave goods and coffi ns lacking, the applied funerary practices appeared to be far from common. All this led to the hypothesis that the burial was related to confl ict or disaster of any kind whatsoever.
Forensic anthropological research on the partly preserved skeletal material revealed to some extent information about age, sex and pathology. A limited but signifi cant number of individuals seemed to be juvenile at the time of death. At least half of the deceased showed hypertrophia of the thighbones, which could be caused by overworking, not necessarily stress or death related. Remarkably a young child of about 1,5 years old (SK11) was buried beneath the other individuals.
Mitochrondrial DNA research aimed at testing its applicability to ancient bones in an urban context and whether the buried individuals were relatives. Because of poor preservation only two individuals revealed a complete mtDNA profi le. One of them (SK5) belonged to mtDNA haplogroup J, originating in the Near East or Caucasus about 45.000 years ago and colonizing Europe during the late Paleolithic and Mesolithic.
Another outcome of the mtDNA research was that none of the deceased shared family ties, at least not through the mothers’ bloodlines.
Finally, as the funerary context dates back to the 10th century being located near the later St. Michael’s abbey or its predecessor, it implies human presence at that spot and a certain sense of place, gaining insight into the urban genesis: 10th century Antwerp was not limited to the burg area and its surroundings further north.
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Tim Bellens 1, Els Jehaes 2, Els Dauven 3 and Mark Van Strydonck 4
1. Department of Archaeology, City of Antwerp (Belgium), [email protected]. Forensic DNA laboratory, University Hospital Antwerp (Belgium), [email protected]. Department of Art History and Archaeology, Free University Brussels, [email protected]. Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, [email protected]