St.Mark's Station, High Street, Lincoln - Archaeology Data Service

CLAU Report No. 338: St. Mark's, High Street, Lincoln - Archaeological Investigations
Volume II
Cranial measurements
A number of cranial measurements were taken in order to establish population variability.
Measurements were taken according to Bass (1987) and Brothwell (1981) and results classified in
accordance with Bass (1987). Unfortunately, for this site, a large number of skulls were damaged post
mortem and, in almost all cases, the base was fragmented. The most complete skull was 6552, that of
an older middle adult male, and for many measurements the results are derived from this individual.
No female skulls could be measured due to the high degree of fragmentation. In past work, metrical
analysis of the cranium has been used for ethnic determination and studying changing cranial
morphology throughout time. Unfortunately, sample size for this site is too small and cannot be
regarded as being representative of the population, but comparison was made with other late medieval
cemeteries.
Calculation of cranial indices, based on more than one individual, reveal that the males and male? had
a physical type which ranged from narrow or long headed (dolichocrany) to broad or round headed
(brachychrany). Generally, they consisted of the average skull type, described as mesocrany. The male
skulls also had average skull breadth, average width and length of palate.
Other cranial indices are derived solely from 6552 and, although not representative of the group, this
individual gives the only information available for facial type: broad face, narrow nasal aperture, and
wide orbits. The cranial vault also has a high length-height and high breadth-height. These are very
specific to this individual and give no indication of general types for the population as a whole.
Comparison of zeb95 with other late medieval groups indicates a similarity of physical type. Pennell
Street, Lincoln (sus96) and St. Helen-on-the-Walls, York also contained males whose mean skull type
was mesocrany, and whose mean palatal length and breadth was average (Boghi and Boylston 1996).
In conclusion, from the small amount of available data it would appear that the males from zeb95 had
similar cranial morphology to males from other late medieval cemeteries, although what these data
mean in terms of population variation is debatable.
Post-cranial measurements
Measurements taken to assist in sex and stature estimation can be used to provide additional
information about individuals from archaeological groups. In addition, anterio-posterior and mediolateral
measurements were taken for the femur and tibia in order to establish the platymeric and
platycnemic indices respectively for males and females. All measurements were taken as outlined in
Buikstra and Ubelaker (1994); indices were calculated according to Brothwell (1981). (For results, see
full archive report, Appendix 3, Table 8, illustrating the mean indices relating to males and females at
zeb95.)
The platycnemic index expresses the degree of medio-lateral flatness of the tibia (Bass 1987, 223). The
males and females showed variation from platycnemic to eurycnemic but, on average, both left and
right tibiae were eurycnemic. These results were consistent with Pennell Street, Lincoln (sus96),
where mean platycnemic indices for males were 74.9 for right and 73.0 for left, for females the mean
was 71.2 for the right and 74.5 for the left (Boghi and Boylston 1996).
The platymeric index expresses the degree of anterio-posterior flattening of the proximal tibia. As with
platycnemic indices, the male and female femoral measurements exhibit variations from platymeric to
eurymeric, but on average both left and right in both sexes were eurymeric. Brothwell (1981, 89)
suggests that for 17th-century English populations the platymeric index has a mean of 85; this is
consistent with the finding from zeb95.
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