Yorkshire Folk Not Always “Big Heads”
English Heritage studies have confirmed that Yorkshire men were not so much big heads - as round heads - in early medieval times.
Research on nearly 700 skeletons recovered from the deserted village of Wharram Percy, near Malton, North Yorkshire, has revealed a puzzling shift in men’s skull shapes between the 11th and 13th centuries.
The move to rounder, rather than longer and narrower heads, which both preceded and followed this anatomical “blip”, has been noted at sites throughout Western Europe during this period.
But uniquely the Wharram data traces the change in a single, indigenous community, which has been accurately radio carbon dated.
Previous attempts to explain the phenomenon have linked the cranial change with an influx of immigrants, such as Norse or Norman, introducing different racial characteristics.
But Wharram was an isolated and dwindling population, crippled by both the plague and sheep blight, which combined to spell its doom. Not only did newcomers give it a wide berth, but female skulls do not show the same change.
The evidence is presented in the latest volume of the Wharram Percy Project – a colossal undertaking to publish the results of 40 years of archaeological excavations at the Yorkshire Wolds village between 1950 and 1990.
Fourteen separate volumes are planned on what was the longest running dig in British archaeological history, providing a unique insight in rural life centuries ago. The new study focuses on the 14th century ruined church of St Martin’s and its graveyard, where the skeletons were found.
Simon Mays, English Heritage Human Skeletal Biologist, said:
“Our work has yielded few clues on why skulls changed, but we have cast serious doubt on some of the current theories. Despite the best efforts of science, we’re still in the dark to explain why it happened. If immigration was responsible, we would expect both sexes to be affected. We do know that male skulls shapes eventually reverted back, becoming similar to those we have today.”
Because the mysterious phenomenon is not restricted to Wharram, climate has been cited as a possible cause. People in colder parts of the world generally have rounder skulls, which have a lower overall surface area and retain heat better than some other skull types. However, the climate at Wharram during the critical period rose by 0.5 centigrade and was actually warmer than it is today.
Simon Mays added:
“What we do know is that male bones more readily display the effects of environmental changes in their early development than those of women. But to confuse matters further, as the weather got much colder in the later medieval period, skulls started to become longer and narrower again. Perhaps the plague could be a factor, since it struck across Western Europe, but at this stage that’s little more than a guess.”
Wharram Percy is the best preserved of the country’s 3,500 deserted villages and is managed by English Heritage. Analysis of the well preserved skeletal remains, most of which are medieval, dating back as far as the mid-10th century, has shed unprecedented light on the lives of peasants.
The new book reveals that the proportion of left handed people in medieval times was higher than it is today – around 15% compared with a modern figure of about 8%. The lower figure is probably due to the suppression of left handedness in more recent literate times.
Although infant mortality was high by modern standards, it was rather low compared with other historic populations. This may be because illness and poor diet only tended to kick-in after children were weaned off breast milk, which until then offered good nutrition and better protection against disease.
Villagers also tended to be more vulnerable to new diseases due to their isolation than poor city folk in York, who built up more resistance by being regularly exposed to pathogens.
The book “WHARRAM XI: The Churchyard” is published by York University Archaeological Publications and is available from Oxbow Books (http://www.oxbowbooks.com/). The cost is £25.
Wharram Percy is six miles south east of Malton off the B1248 and is open during daylight hours. Entry is free. For further information visit http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/wharrampercy
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