S – SKULL







S – SKULL
A few years ago, I was mudlarking with a friend close to the Estuary when we stumbled across a human skull and several leg and arm bones. 

The bones were scattered over a fairly wide area, and we weren't sure how high the tide was likely to rise, so we gathered them up and buried them in situ in a shallow pit. Because human remains have to be reported, we took a GPS reading and informed the police, the Museum of London and the local Finds Liaison Officer. The police came the next day and retrieved the bones.

Carbon dating concluded they were about Carbon dating concluded they were about 200 years old, which means they may have belonged to a prisoner from one of the 18th/19th century prison hulks that were moored nearby. Prison hulks were disused warships that were turned into floating prisons to hold, amongst others, those awaiting transportation and Napoleonic prisoners of war. 

They were filthy, brutal places and many died from starvation and disease. When they did, their bodies were rowed to the closest piece of land, usually deserted marshland beside the river, where they were buried in shallow graves. With rising sea levels these graves are now eroding, and it is not unusual to find human remains in this area.

While the bones were with the police I was contacted by Paola Magni, a forensic scientist specialising in barnacle colonisation on human remains at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. She asked if it was possible to send the remains to Murdoch for her team, scientists from a number of disciplines, to analyse. We obtained the necessary permissions for the remains to go to Australia, but then lockdown got in the way and Fred (as ‘he’ became known) was stuck in the UK. 

While he was languishing in my garage I was contacted by Professor Turi King of Leicester University, who was responsible for genetically identifying the remains of Richard III, and she has offered to analyse the skull. He is currently Leicester at the start of a journey that we hope will reveal so much more about his life and death.

Please be assured that he is and has always been treated respect and that he was NOT found on Deadman's Island, which is a nature reserve and a mass grave and has been illegal to visit for many years.

#Mudlarking #Mudlark #Larking

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