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HER Number: | MCO56202 |
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Name: | POLZEATH - Post medieval shipwreck grave |
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Summary
Grave and human bone remains of probable shipwreck victim, dating from the C18, discovered in 2011.
Protected Status: None recorded
Other Statuses/Codes: none recorded
Monument Type(s):
Full description
On 31 May 2011 Devon & Cornwall Police reported the finding of human remains eroding from a cliff at Hayle Bay, Polzeath.
The bone remains had been exposed, protruding from subsoil, on the side of the cliff above sea rocks, below the site of The Hungry Surfer café, Polzeath. They were confirmed as human and included the left side of a pelvis and a depression in the soil nearby indicated where a left femur had earlier been removed by a member of the public. The orientation of the grave cut and body was approximately east-west, and located about 1.2m above the rock platform in front of the burial, and about 4m below the car-park above (the burial depth may be due considerable made-up ground above the original ground surface). The soil around the body was of a grey coloured clay/shillet mix. No observable ‘grave cut’ was observed, although about 1m-1.5m above the location of the body, a change in soil horizons was visible, possibly indicating the original ground surface or overlying subsoil.
The following bones were recovered during the Police excavation: a right femur; the complete pelvis; and lower lumbar vertebrae – all in articulation. There were no signs of trauma on initial examination. No lower legs and feet, upper torso, arms, hands or skull or fragments thereof were recovered. The angle of the body relative to the cliff face indicated that the upper body should have been located further into the cliff, but nothing was found. The lower legs and feet may have been lost to erosion at an earlier date.
The condition of the exposed bone was good, but friable, with fragments crumbling from the upper part of the pelvis, with a surface of a creamy colour with a dry chalky texture suggesting there was little or no collagen present. The overall condition of the bone suggests that it is ‘modern’ (ie. not ancient), but not a recent burial.
Initial interpretation of the bones suggest they represent the remains of a shipwreck burial, probably of C18 date. This was based on the condition of the bones, location on the cliff edge, and lack of compelling association with any other likely known settlement or burial.
The practice of shipwreck burial is known elsewhere in Cornwall, and a comparable burial was discovered nearby in 2007 at Pentireglaze Haven (on the north side of Hayle Bay) and excavated archaeologically. That burial was dated by associated artefacts to between 1700-1800. Four other similar coastal burial sites are known in Cornwall, of similar likely date.
It should be noted that Prior to an 1808 Act of Parliament which decreed that bodies washed ashore from shipwrecks should be interred in consecrated ground after being afforded the rites of Christian burial, such bodies were buried, if at all, in un-consecrated ground as near as possible to the place of discovery.
The balance of evidence suggested that these human remains represent the grave of a victim of shipwreck dating from the C18. The pelvis exhibited signs that this individual may have been male, due to a narrow sciatic notch, but this initial observation should be reconsidered following further forensic analysis. However, if further examination proves it to be a male, the fact that only the upper legs and lower torso appear to have been buried, further lends to the theory that these are the part remains of a shipwrecked sailor.
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h1. PC, 31/05/2011
Associated Finds: none recorded
Associated Events: none recorded
Related records
MCO55904 | Related to: NEW POLZEATH - C18 shipwreck grave (Monument) |
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