|
(Continued from previous page)
The interior was dominated by the huge central pit F1 (see image 5) 10m wide,which had been dug 1.5m into the solid chalk to a level where a natural joint was reached in the bedrock. Digging seems to have deliberately ceased at this point, leaving a smooth natural surface at the interface between the upper rubbly chalk and the much harder blocky chalk. The surface when first revealed had an almost polished appearance as if worn smooth by the passage of feet.
| Image 4. |
Image 5. |
Image 6. |
|
When newly created it would have been a very impressive sight with its vertical sides and smooth even floor, and perhaps even surrounded by a low bank created from its excavated spoil. Shortly afterwards it seems to have been sanctified by a remarkable, perhaps sacrificial, multiple burial inserted into its Northern edge. Thanks to specialist work sponsored by the BBC during the making of a Meet the Ancestors programme about the site (Richards 1999), we know a great deal about the buried individuals including an impression of the facial features of the adult (see image 7).
The oval grave (see image 8) had been carefully dug into the wall of the great central pit partly undercutting it. Four individuals in a crouched posture had been placed within, two at either end, consisting of two girls aged about 5 and 10 years respectively, a boy of 9 years and a woman aged about 30. Great care had been taken to conceal the grave when it was backfilled, firstly with large blocks of chalk and these had then been rammed with small shattered chalk to produce a surface practically indistinguishable from the surrounding natural bedrock.
DNA analysis carried out on the bone has shown that the youngest, a girl, was the offspring of the woman and the other girl and boy were probably brother and sister although unrelated to the mother and daughter. The youngest girl had suffered from poor health, as revealed by the discovery of a tooth abscess and a tumour on her skull, and all three showed signs of iron deficiency. None of these signs of disease were sufficient however to explain their deaths.
| Image 7. |
Image 8. |
Image 9. |
|
Isotope analysis of trace metals, which are absorbed by the body from the underlying geology through the food chain, produced remarkable results. The interpretation of these chemical 'signatures' suggested that woman had originally lived on a high lead level geology, the nearest match to which is found on Mendip, some 40 miles (60km) to the North-West. She then travelled to Cranborne Chase where she stayed for some time before returning with the two older children whom she had 'acquired'. Back in Mendip she gave birth to her daughter, the younger child, and later still all came back to Cranborne Chase where they ended their lives. Further analysis revealed a high protein diet most likely based on dairy products, which probably explains the almost perfect condition of the adults teeth. The pathological evidence for iron deficiency present in the children would make it extremely unlikely that much meat was eaten. Sophisticated computer imaging was used on the woman's skull to enable an accurate reconstruction of her facial characteristics. An artist can then fill in the remaining details and we can gaze in amazement at the finished portrait of someone who lived so long ago (see image 7).
|
