A Boneyard Along the Thames River Reveals London’s Ancient Burials
The New York Times
Researchers have found dozens of human bones on the banks of the iconic river, many of them thousands of years old.
The banks of the Thames River have hosted human settlements for thousands of years, from Neolithic huts to the soaring skyscrapers of London. Evidence of bygone civilizations has been steadily deposited on the river’s muddy bottom for modern archaeologists to mine.
Now, researchers in London have dated dozens of bones dredged from the river, creating a comprehensive database that has dispelled longstanding theories about why the river came to serve as the final resting place for so many people. The findings were published in the journal Antiquity.
“It’s really fabulous, actually, in lots of different ways,” said Thomas Booth, an expert in ancient genomics at the Francis Crick Institute in London who was not involved in the project. Dr. Booth said it was “by far the most comprehensive effort” to date the human remains found in the Thames.
The river’s mud, which lacks oxygen, is a sealant that helps preserve remains. (If oxygen is present, bones decompose much faster.) And because there is so much activity on the Thames, its mud is constantly yielding historical treasures. In 2018, workers building a new sewage tunnel along the riverbank discovered an intact 500-year-old skeleton with leather boots still on its feet.
For the new study, researchers dated bones by measuring the amount of a carbon isotope in each one. This method, known as radiocarbon dating, had previously been used to determine the age of 19 samples. This time, the researchers tested 28 river samples — all from skulls — that had never been dated before. They also tested two skulls from a decades-old investigation to see if the results still held up (they did).
The researchers also included some samples that had been found by “mudlarks,” amateur archaeologists who are deputized by London officials to scour the Thames. (It’s a popular hobby; some 10,000 people are on the mudlark waiting list).
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