I went to the Leeds City Museum. I was unlikely to buy anything there, and there was an exhibition on of skeletons. How could I resist? There were a dozen cases, each with the remains of a person found at an archaeological dig. There was a notice that politely reminded the public that these had once been living people and to be respectful when it came to taking photographs. There were a few other bits as well, so I took a picture of those instead. Here is a memento mori, a very Victorian thing where they kept a memento of their lost one, in this case, a bracelet with the band made of human hair.
I found the thought of that very icky indeed!
One of the skeletons was from a dig before they built the Barbican in York. Apparently they hoped to find the lost church of York, All Saints Church, and while they didn't find the church building they did find a lot of medieval burials plus some of Cromwell's soldiers.
I should say that the exhibition said that it was a lost church that vanished with the dissolution of the monasteries in the sixteenth century but apparently there is an All Saints Church in North Street, York, with all the details that the exhibition referred to, so Wikipedia obviously has different sources. They may be more reliable because All Saints, York, is also on Trip Advisor
Regardless, the excavation dug up over 500 sets of remains from a previously unknown burial site. Any decent storyteller would have the place dripping with ghosts. As far as I can tell from Google, the Barbican, now built on the site, is no more haunted than the rest of York.
There must be dozens and dozens of unknown burial sites in the UK. They were always getting found by Time Team. If I believed properly in ghosts I would feel very undersupplied and would want to check my reciept. As it was, it was fascinating to see the remains from lots of different time periods, from Bronze Age to 18th century, and to see the marks their life left on their remains.
If I ever can get writing again, I've got material for a lot of stories.
Sounds just the sort of thing our archaeologist son would like!
ReplyDeleteWell done on getting out of the house! You've inspired me to visit a museum on my own, one of these days.
ReplyDeleteGood for you. I know it was tough but you did it! And had a goodish day too. Sorry you were poorly. How interesting the Museum. When you mentioned how many burial sites there must be out there it probably would amaze us to know just how many times we step over and on an old grave site. Makes you wonder. I'm so glad you spent the day out and about. :)
ReplyDeleteI love Time Team. Sounds like a really good time out. I'd try to focus on things like that - sounds like your really them!
ReplyDelete