Gloucester body 'is Goth warrior'

[JGolomb]

Gloucester body 'is Goth warrior'

A late Roman period body unearthed in Gloucester has stunned experts after tests suggested it was a Goth warrior from eastern Europe.

 

The man, aged 25 to 30, who was dug up north of Kingsholm Square in 1972, had always baffled archaeologists.

 

His elaborate silver belt fittings, shoe buckles and inlaid knife were believed to be from an area between the Balkans and Southern Russia.

 

Chemical tests now prove he was from east of the River Danube.

 

This has led historians to suggest he was a Goth mercenary in the Roman Army.

 

Pirate warden?

 

The large bones date to about 400AD, just 10 years before Rome itself fell to Visigoth invaders, and tests showed he was mostly vegetarian.

 

They were discovered in a mausoleum, suggesting he was a man of high social status.

 

David Rice, archaeology curator at Gloucester City Museum, said: "Archaeologists have always wondered who he was and what he was doing in Gloucester.

 

"We've discovered he came from way outside of the Roman Empire, from the other side of the Danube."

 

It was possible to detect he lived in very cold regions as a child, before moving west, he said.

 

Mr Rice added: "To have such an unusual person in this city means that Gloucester was a more important place in Roman times than we've previously thought.

 

"Perhaps there were pirates coming up the River Severn?"

 

 

[sylla]

Chemical tests now prove he was from east of the River Danube.

 

... It was possible to detect he lived in very cold regions as a child, before moving west, he said.

Sadly, the article gives no more details on such tests.

 

... tests showed he was mostly vegetarian.

Wow! The same as the purported gladiators from Ephesus and at least 95% of their contemporaries; what a coincidence...

[Melvadius]

Currently there doesn't seem to be much detail on the web about this analysis - apart from the BBC article and a few sites which have copied it, it is probable that the research will eventually appear in one of the Archaeological scientific reports or at least one of the local archaeological society publications but so far there is no indication if, when or where this will happen.

 

From a general search it appears that this analysis was undertaken with some financial assistance from a grant by the Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society:

 

'Analysis of skeletal material from Kingsholm, Gloucester

 

Carolyn Heighway is carrying out a review of the evidence for Gloucester in the post-Roman period and this includes a re-examination of the cemetery evidence and in particular material from the late cemetery at Kingsholm including burial I excavated in 1972. This burial was of a male aged 25-30 and the grant will enable an analysis of skeletal material to be carried out to provide information about childhood origin and about diet. '

 

c/f http://www.bgas.org.uk/grants.php

 

The research was originally cited in April 2009 in This is Gloucestershire:

 

http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/for...il/article.html

 

As I noted above I have found no indication of formal publication of the detailed results but from the descriptions I've found it seems like the analysis has probably involved the isotope analysis of teeth enamel and/or bone fragments as these can help identify both the type of food protein which has been ingested and the general geographic regions where people have grown up. Comparison charts have been created which show the likeliehood of where particular isotopic combinations can be found in skeletal remains and these will have formed the basis of the analysis.

Edited October 12, 2009 by Melvadius