[Sca-cooks] Fwd: BBC story: AS teeth

[Alex Clark]

At 05:32 PM 3/17/2004 -0800, 'Lainie wrote:
. . .
>>Sender: ANSAXNET Discussion Forum <ANSAX-L at LISTSERV.WVU.EDU>
>>From: Stephen Harris <sharris at ENGLISH.UMASS.EDU>
. . .
>> >     Researchers from the University of Durham and the British Geological
>> > Survey looked at different types of the elements strontium and oxygen 
>> in the
>> > teeth of 24 skeletons from an early Anglo-Saxon cemetery at West 
>> Heslerton,
>> > North Yorkshire that spans the fifth to the seventh centuries AD.
. . .
>> > Of the 24 individuals sampled, a possible four had oxygen isotope values
>> > outside the range for the British Isles. Following improvements in
>> > calibration, the group now believes only one individual was from 
>> continental
>> > Europe.
>> >
>> > The results support the view of other researchers that the introduction of
>> > Anglo-Saxon culture and language into Britain did not occur through
>> > large-scale replacement of native populations by invading tribes.
. . .

I'm disappointed with this analysis. It seems likely that only about one or 
two generations of a typical family would have moved from the continent 
while in their teens or older, and any others either would have died on the 
continent or would have had teeth that did not indicate a continental 
origin. So it can hardly be expected that any cemetery spanning three 
centuries would yield evidence of a large proportion of teeth of 
continental origin. Even in a cemetery that was strictly middle fifth 
century to early sixth century, in a place where the entire population was 
replaced by people from the continent, it might be likely that the majority 
would have teeth that did not indicate residence on the continent during 
childhood.

Besides, this is only one cemetery in one location, and it is therefore 
statistically insignificant.

It does seem likely that the Anglo-Saxon conquerors were the minority, 
perhaps even a small minority. But the data from this study, as described 
in this article, seem to give no substantial support to this hypothesis.

-- 
Alex Clark/Henry of Maldon