Eight burials were located to the west of an enclosure within a clearly defined area that possibly represented a cemetery. Contained within graves were articulated inhumations. Further human bones were also recovered from the site giving a total of fourteen individuals. In all cases burial position was supine and extended, in keeping with the widespread adoption of this burial practice during the late-Roman period. Some burials were truncated by later features and in these cases the skeletons were often incomplete. Also, disarticulated human bones were recovered from grave fills, indicating either the inter-cutting of graves or later disturbance.

The graves were generally aligned north-south and were sub-rectangular in shape with irregular sides and concave bases and contained generally brown clayey silts.

One grave was orientated east-west and truncated by a late-Roman gully, suggesting that this burial may be earlier than the other eight inhumations.

No juvenile skeletal remains were recovered from the site.

The human bones excavated represent the remains of fourteen adult individuals, including six males, three females and five adults of unknown sex. The disarticulated bones of a minimum of one other individual were also recovered from the fill of two graves. A disparity in the male/female ratio is frequently observed at Romano-British sites, however, because the sample here is small and a significant proportion was unable to be sexed, little comment can be made. Preservation of the skeletons varied considerably throughout the site, but the majority were in poor condition; skeletons were often incomplete and bones highly fragmented.

As a result of this poor preservation, age-at-death could only be estimated for six of the adults, of which three were young adults, two were middle adults and one was an old adult. Again, little comment can be made regarding the demography of the site based on such a small sample. The absence of juveniles is noteworthy, but the poor preservation conditions overall may serve as an explanation for this.

Very few long bones were preserved intact, consequently stature could only be estimated for two individuals: one female and one male. The female was approximately 154cm in height; below the average of 159cm for females at this time. This estimate was, however, based on the length of the humerus and upper limb bones tend not to be quite so reliable for stature estimates as those from the lower limbs. The male was approximately 174.6cm in height and this is above the average of 169cm for males during the Roman period.

Only six out of the fourteen adults had teeth amongst their remains.

Caries were observed on the teeth of two of the six individuals. One skeleton exhibited one carious lesion, while skeleton 285 suffered from eight caries. A carious lesion forms when ingested carbohydrates become trapped around the teeth together with plaque and become fermented by microorganisms. This process creates an acid environment that dissolves the mineral phase of the teeth producing a cavity. The caries prevalence for this group is 10.3%, falling within the range that one would expect from a Romano-British site.

Two individuals suffered from dental abscesses. One skeleton was unfortunate enough to have three of them. An abscess forms as a result of the exposure and infection of the pulp cavity by micro-organisms. The infection tracks down the tooth and pus will accumulate at the root apex, eventually resulting in a sinus. Any factors that result in the exposure of the pulp cavity will predispose the teeth to infection and abscesses are frequently associated with chronic caries, as is the case here. The prevalence for the group is 3%, which, again, falls within the range of what one would expect for a site of this period.

Two individuals had lost a total of twelve teeth ante-mortem, giving a prevalence of 9%. Ante-mortem tooth loss may occur for a number of reasons, including dental disease, violence and severe attrition. Ante-mortem loss of the posterior teeth is more common in archaeological populations and usually results from dental disease. Loss of the anterior teeth, as in the case of one skeleton, is less common, but advancing age and dental disease are likely to have been the causes.

Dental enamel defects may take the form of pits or bands in the enamel surface of the teeth and occur as a result of a dysfunction in the ameloblast activity during tooth development. This disruption is thought to arise due to a period of health stress in childhood, such as infection or poor diet. Because the teeth do not undergo any remodeling once they have formed, a permanent record of this episode of health stress is retained into adulthood. Only one individual exhibited these defects and these appeared on the mandibular canines and the majority of the maxillary teeth. The prevalence for the group is 14.9%, which is not exceptional for skeletons of this period.

Three individuals, all of whom were male, exhibited degenerative changes to the hip joints in the form of large osteophytes around the femoral heads and acetabulae and, in the case of one skeleton, porosity and sclerotic changes to the joint surface associated with osteoarthritis. In at least two of these individuals the degenerative changes were bilateral; it was not possible to observe whether this was the case in the third individual due to the incomplete nature of these remains. All three of these individuals also suffered from some degenerative changes in their lumbar vertebrae. Two skeletons exhibited vertebral osteophytosis (bony spurs around the margins of the vertebrae), a condition that occurs when the intervertebral discs start to degenerate. Unfortunately, the vertebral bodies of one skeleton were not preserved, however, two of the lumbar vertebrae of this individual had fused at the articular facets and this may have also been related to degenerative change.

This unusually high number of instances of joint disease in the hips of the males is interesting, particularly given the small size of the sample. This factor, together with the correlation between hip and spinal degeneration amongst them, indicates that these males may have been engaged in a strenuous occupational activity that pre-disposed them to degeneration in these joints. Linking such changes to a specific activity is problematic, however.

One individual (male) suffered from two fractures, both of which were well healed. One fracture was located at the lateral third of the left clavicle. This is a commonly fractured bone and often occurs as the result of falling on an out-stretched arm. This fracture had been healed for some time and although it had resulted in some shortening of the bone due to the overlap of the fractured bone ends it is unlikely that the individual had suffered any further discomfort as a result of it. The second fracture was to one of the left ribs. Fractured ribs usually occur as the result of a direct blow. It is possible that both of these factures occurred as the result of a single accident.

One female exhibited biconcave vertebral bodies consistent with the condition osteoporosis. Given the appearance of the vertebrae, together with the age-at-death and sex of this individual (female, possibly 40s), it is probable that the cause of this condition was post-menopausal osteoporosis, related to hormonal changes. The condition may have resulted in some back pain and the loss of bone mass would have eventually pre-disposed the individual to bone fractures.

Tobin Raynor, 2006, Archaeological Investigations on Land to the Rear of the Chesterfield Arms, 59-61 Long Acre, Bingham, Nottinghamshire, Page 8-9 (Unpublished document). SNT5873.