Archaeology - ROMANIA Monthly Update - November 2006

Volunteer Archaeological Update - November 2006

This month most of the diggings have closed as the winter weather sets in, some have continued to be worked. Most notably one near Brasov in the mountains, Romanian archeologists are a hardy folk. We on the other hand have been working at the museum in Alba Iulia, in a nice warm laboratory.

Last month we had been working on a salvage dig at a second century Roman cemetery. A number of graves had been found with bodies laid upon a bed of lime, an untypical method of burial for the region and of great interest; also of note was the complete lack of grave goods. One of the hypotheses forwarded was that these graves were the victims of a disease outbreak, perhaps even the plague. Having a biologist as a volunteer we agreed to examine the skeletons for evidence of Pathology.

Working in the converted pottery wash room I had under two weeks too examine twelve skeletons. Using a large white metal table the first process was to arrange the bones, which were stored in plastic shopping bags. The skeletons were in varied states of condition some of the graves had been robbed in antiquity, others damaged by prior excavations for pipes etc. One had three Humoruses, a small error in the packing, (I never did find who the spare arm belonged to.) The aim was to examine each bone individually for signs of abnormalities. The Pelvis and bones of the cranium were used to sex the skeletons, while the long bones preferably the Femur and the Tibia were used to establish stature using Trotters regression equation. The age of the skeletons was estimated from the teeth and the Auricular surface of the Pelvis which is where it articulates with the Sarcum.

Ages can be very difficult to establish especially when you have little experience in the field. My estimations included a great deal of caution but everyone seemed confident of my abilities, (even if I was not.) I was satisfied with my results we learnt varied amounts about each skeleton depending upon the condition of the remains. The bones were photographed so that my work could be checked in the future.

Of the twelve I examined two stand out in my mind. The first bag I opened turned out to be one of the most interesting specimens I studied. The bones belonged to a man who stood about 170cm tall. He was well built and lived a long life for the period, dieing between the ages of 40 and 59. His life had been an eventful one during his childhood he had suffered from chronic Anemia, some time latter he had been stabbed by an extremely sharp edged blade that left a deep and neat incision in the bone. His skull was completely intact and there was something very personnel about working with this specimen, that I named Fred.

The second was very unusual, when I first opened the bag I believed I was dealing with a child. Examination of the Mandible revealed that the specimen had wisdom teeth and was at least over 18 (although I could not establish the age anymore accurately.) The specimen stood only 140cm high and the skull and Mandible were clearly deformed. The teeth were in an awful condition, one had decayed to the root forming an abscess that had opened into the jaw. This condition would have been horrendously painful and was remarkably advanced.

The week gave an overview of the twelve specimens and some of the possibilities that archeological pathology could achieve. Unfortunately I didn't find the plague or in fact anything beyond one case of Osteomyiltis and a couple of cases of childhood Anemia. Maybe next year.

Chris COMINS
Archaeology Volunteer for Project Abroad Romania

Projects Abroad Archaeology Centre Romania
30th November 2006

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