Date of Award
12-2025
Degree Type
Honors College Thesis
Academic Program
Anthropology BA
Department
Anthropology and Sociology
First Advisor
Marie Elaine Danforth, Ph.D.
Advisor Department
Anthropology and Sociology
Abstract
The Anglo-Saxons were the most influential inhabitants of the British Isles in the years AD 450-1066, reigning during a time marked by much warfare, pestilence, and famine. Their impact on British history is still seen through archival materials as well as the archeological and bioarchaeological records. A recent development in the field of bioarchaeology is the osteobiography, which places skeletal analysis in context of the overall culture to create the most complete interpretation of the individual and their life history. Involving both traditional bioarchaeological evaluation and isotopic analysis, this method was applied to two Anglo-Saxon skulls donated to the University of Southern Mississippi in 2023. They had originally been recovered near Cambridgeshire, England, in the late 1960s in a cemetery revealed during housing construction.
Individual #1 was a male and Individual #2 a probable female. Both exhibited typical Anglo-Saxon features and were 50-65+ years old at death. They lived in the region of Cambridgeshire for their entire lives and enjoyed diets consisting mostly of wheat, barley, and roasted meats. Individual #1 experienced some metabolic stress as a child but likely was well-nourished as an adult. In contrast, Individual #2 had scurvy as an adult but showed no evidence of malnutrition as a child. Both exhibited minor dental pathology but otherwise had no other signs of disease or trauma. Overall, this study demonstrates how the information that can be found from only analyzing the skull can be used to create a life history, returning identity and autonomy to the individual.
Copyright
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Recommended Citation
Ragazzi, Isabella, "A Story of Life Through Death: An Osteobiography of Two Individuals from the Late Saxon Period" (2025). Honors Theses. 1071.
https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/1071