6 days ago
Unearthing people's bones from hundreds of years ago can be 'quite hard emotionally'
Unearthing the fossilised remains of a woman cradling a baby or of a woman who died while pregnant sticks in the memory of Glenn Gibney. It acts as a reminder to the osteoarchaeologist that while studying bones can be a fascinating occupation - unlocking secrets that date back centuries - it is not without its emotions.
'I visited a site where we did a reconstructive illustration of an adult female and an infant found in the crease of the arm," said the UCC graduate. "Based on the positioning it looked like the infant had been cradled by the adult. They had both died around the same time. We did a demonstration to show how they would have been placed in the grave and what they might have looked like. It's good to bring these stories to life.'
While no definite cause of death was confirmed, Glenn said it is believed the pair died of natural causes.
'It's likely that she died of an illness that was too short to leave evidence on the bone. She was between 35 and 45 years old and the infant was a newborn. The adult remains date back to between the fifth and sixth century AD. Without ancient DNA testing - which is atypical in commercial archaeology - we don't assume a relationship with an adult female and a child. It's possible that they were unrelated or this was an aunt or grandmother who died at or near the same time.'
The aim of osteoarchaeology is to uncover past lives through the analysis of bones through various methods including visual examinations and microscopic analysis. This can determine factors such as age, sex, health, status and diet. However, Glenn believes its importance runs far deeper than that. Photo: Moya Nolan
Other emotional finds include bones unearthed showing women who died in pregnancy.
'There have been a few times where we found women who died while they were pregnant. As well as finding the adult skeleton we will find the foetal skeleton in the pelvic cavity. These can be difficult to excavate but they are also quite hard emotionally.'
Osteoarchaeology focuses on the study of human skeletal remains recovered from archaeological sites. Its aim is to uncover past lives through the analysis of bones through various methods including visual examinations and microscopic analysis. This can determine factors such as age, sex, health, status and diet. However, Glenn believes its importance runs far deeper than that.
'History is so often written by and about the wealthy,' Glenn told the Irish Examiner.
'You rarely learn things about everyday people. What we uncover is typically from everyday sites. These are the stories of the workers, the farmers and people just trying to get by. They are the kind of stories we don't know about.'
Glenn Gibney, an osteoarchaeologist from Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit, working on a dig near Dublin. Osteoarchaeology focuses on the study of human skeletal remains recovered from archaeological sites. Photo: Moya Nolan
'It's nice to be able to tell these people's stories and learn about what they did during their lives. I like to find out about the people who don't feature in historical records. We are now able to learn a lot more about the individuals who weren't able to leave a mark. These discoveries tell us a lot about who we were back then and also who we are today.'
'I was on a site recently where there were a lot of adult remains. All of them had pathological changes to the spine which suggested that they did a lot of heavy lifting from an early age. They were constantly lifting heavy objects and loads to the extent that it affected their spines.
"Occupational markers such as what muscles or bones they might have worked consistently give an idea of what work they were in. In a graveyard, you might look at individuals and see a population as a whole that lived 2000 years ago. This is particularly useful when learning about communities that might be absent from historical records.'
So what attracted him to the profession? The osteoarchaeologist began working in the industry 10 years ago after earning an undergraduate degree in ancient history and archaeology from Trinity College in Dublin. He went on to achieve a Master's degree in human osteoarchaeology at UCC.
The Drogheda native had worked in retail for years before his rather unorthodox career change. Now, his job brings him all to sites all over the country.
He jokes:
I went from working with the live public to working with the dead.
And, yes, violent deaths do feature.
'There were remains that showed signs of sharp force trauma to the skull on a site in Drogheda. They were cut in the back of the head by a blade that caught the bone. This is one of the more interesting ones where you can see how the person died. In this case it would likely have been by a blade strike to the back of the head. It's a difficult one to both think about and excavate.'
"Telltale signs like fillings will indicate if the remains are modern. In these situations it would be left to the gardaí and I would have no input. Generally 70 years is the cut-off point. However, even if the human remains are 2,000 years old I still contact Gardaí.'
'Some bones survive really well and are easy to excavate. Other times the bones will be very poorly preserved. It's not necessarily about the amount of time the bones are in the ground. It's more to do with soil conditions and in that regard it can be quite difficult.'
Break-ins at historical sites by voyeuristic members of the public is not uncommon during excavations.
'I've had people break into sites to take pictures to put online. I try to keep the locations of the sites under wraps to mitigate any risk to the remains. If a person tries to dig up an area themselves, it destroys the context of the environment around it which is extremely frustrating for osteoarchaeologists and archaeologists. We appreciate when people leave this work to those who are best qualified.'
