Two human skeletons have been discovered in Cornwall. One was found near Padstow, Trevone, while the other was found during a beach cleanup at Sennen in Penwith. When they were discovered and authorities determined they were historic, bone expert Dr. Richard Mikulski of the Cornwall Archaeology Unit (CAU) carefully excavated the sites and analyzed the skeletons. The skeletons were the remains of a shipwrecked sailors.
Ann Reynolds, Cornwall Council‘s senior officer for the Rural Historic Environment, who participated in the excavations last winter, said: “The analysis has given us a fascinating insight into why the remains were found in two locations. Only the skull remains of the skeleton at Sennen.
“Given this age, it is likely that this was a burial site that was washed away by successive storms and the remains were gradually washed away until only the skull remained. Due to the limited survival of the bones we can’t say much more, but the owner of the skeleton would have been male and around middle age.”
As for the remains at Trevone, many more fragments can be pieced together that will provide further insights into this individual and his lifestyle.
Ann added “The radiocarbon dating results give a high probability level of around 1700 BC. The bones show that the individual did a lot of heavy manual labor, such as pulling and carrying, and the upper body muscles were very well developed. These activity-related changes to the back of the head, shoulders and upper arms are consistent with an active lifestyle involving persistent use of the arms/shoulders and are consistent with the theory that this individual was a shipwrecked sailor.”
“Some activity-related abrasion of the teeth may also be consistent with a sailing lifestyle (the abrasion of the teeth is thought to have occurred because the person held the cord/rope in their mouth).
The bones were also found to have a soft tissue injury on the left shoulder, which has probably healed. There is also a possibly healed injury to the nose, suggesting that the nose was broken. There was also evidence of an infection such as sinusitis.
“The burial was very compact, suggesting he may have been tightly wrapped and shrouded,” Ann said.
Martyn Alvey of Cornwall Council said: “This is a fascinating insight into the life and times of a seafarer who is synonymous with Cornwall and our maritime history. It’s interesting to see what modern science and the wonders of forensics can discover.”
Emily Stevenson, co-founder of Beach Guardian, said: “We are always encouraging people to join efforts to preserve the past in order to protect the future. This really showed us the importance of beach cleanup and protecting the coastal environment.”