Taphonomic Changes of the Skeletal Remains from the Winchester Anatomized Site, Massachusetts

Abstract

The present research examined the taphonomic effects of anatomized human skeletal remains discovered in a burial feature underneath a construction site in a neighborhood house in Winchester, Massachusetts. Artifact association places the burial of these remains as early as the mid-1800s. Taphonomic profiles of buried remains display certain characteristics that can be used to make comparisons to other known burial types, specifically traditional cemetery burials. The effects observed for the taphonomic profile were soil and mineral staining, bone condition and preservation, plant adherence and/or damage, and postmortem damage.

It was hypothesized that the skeletal remains would display a different taphonomic profile compared to previously researched profiles of cemetery remains. There is ubiquitous soil staining throughout the sample and postmortem damage on 69.4%, cortical erosion on 15.7%, plant root adherence on 8.3%, and mineral staining on 5.3% of the identified remains. There is abnormal pink staining on 1.0% of the skeletal remains, possibly the result of a historical embalming technique that used mercury. The analysis also supported the hypothesis that the skeletal remains would display a taphonomic profile more consistent with cemetery remains with direct soil contact and secondarily confirmed that the site was likely used as a medical waste site of anatomized remains. The analysis of the Winchester Anatomized Site also confirmed that the remains displayed a taphonomic profile different from coffin cemetery remains, including a lack of coffin wear or cortical exfoliation, or remains that were prepared and used for anatomical teaching.