Gristhorpe Man: an Early Bronze Age log-coffin burial scientifically defined

Melton, Nigel; Montgomery, Janet; Knüsel, Christopher J.; Batt, Cathy; Needham, Stuart; Pearson, Mike Parker; Sheridan, Alison; Heron, Carl; Horsley, Tim; Schmidt, Armin; Evans, Adrian; Carter, Elizabeth; Edwards, Howell; Hargreaves, Michael; Janaway, Rob; Lynnerup, Niels; Northover, Peter; O'Connor, Sonia; Ogden, Alan; Taylor, Timothy; Wastling, Vaughan; Wilson, Andrew

doi:10.1017/s0003598x00100237

Gristhorpe Man: an Early Bronze Age log-coffin burial scientifically defined

Melton, Nigel; Montgomery, Janet; Knüsel, Christopher J.; Batt, Cathy; Needham, Stuart; Pearson, Mike Parker; Sheridan, Alison; Heron, Carl; Horsley, Tim; Schmidt, Armin; Evans, Adrian; Carter, Elizabeth; Edwards, Howell; Hargreaves, Michael; Janaway, Rob; Lynnerup, Niels; Northover, Peter; O'Connor, Sonia; Ogden, Alan; Taylor, Timothy; Wastling, Vaughan; Wilson, Andrew

Authors

Nigel Melton

Professor Janet Montgomery janet.montgomery@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Christopher J. Knüsel

Cathy Batt

Stuart Needham

Mike Parker Pearson

Alison Sheridan

Carl Heron

Tim Horsley

Armin Schmidt

Adrian Evans

Elizabeth Carter

Howell Edwards

Michael Hargreaves

Rob Janaway

Niels Lynnerup

Peter Northover

Sonia O'Connor

Alan Ogden

Timothy Taylor

Vaughan Wastling

Andrew Wilson

Abstract

A log-coffin excavated in the early nineteenth century proved to be well enough preserved in the early twenty-first century for the full armoury of modern scientific investigation to give its occupants and contents new identity, new origins and a new date. In many ways the interpretation is much the same as before: a local big man buried looking out to sea. Modern analytical techniques can create a person more real, more human and more securely anchored in history. This research team shows how.

Citation

Melton, N., Montgomery, J., Knüsel, C. J., Batt, C., Needham, S., Pearson, M. P., …Wilson, A. (2010). Gristhorpe Man: an Early Bronze Age log-coffin burial scientifically defined. Antiquity, 84(325), 796-815. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00100237

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Sep 1, 2010
Deposit Date	Apr 18, 2012
Publicly Available Date	Aug 3, 2011
Journal	Antiquity
Print ISSN	0003-598X
Electronic ISSN	1745-1744
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	84
Issue	325
Pages	796-815
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00100237
Keywords	Gristhorpe, Early Bronze Age, Log-coffin burials, Elite status, Radiocarbon dating, Stable isotope, Metallurgy, Femur.