Find Spot record 15525 - Human skull recovered from the River Gowy

<1> Oxford Archaeology North, 2022, A51 Tarvin Road Improvement Scheme, Chester, Cheshire: Assessment of Human Remains, R4566 (Client Report). SCH9160.

A disarticulated human skull was recovered from the River Gowy, in 2021, during works associated with bridge improvements as part of the A51 Tarvin Road Improvement Scheme, Chester (NGR: SJ 46625 67399). It was submitted for radiocarbon dating to identify whether it was ancient or modern. The date returned, 40 cal BC - cal AD 120 (3368±20 BP; SUERC 100651), established that it belonged either to the Late Iron Age or early Roman period (see source 2).

It is possible that the skull had been eroded from the riverbank, perhaps having originally been part of a formal burial, although there are no known burials in the vicinity of the find spot. Roman marching camps are known to have existed to the south of the site and the A51 may follow the approximate line of a Roman road heading towards the legionary fortress at Chester. It cannot be discounted, however, that the skull had originally been deposited as a disarticulated element, perhaps a votive offering, within or close to the water’s edge, part of a widespread tradition of depositing bodies, or body parts, in wet places.

The assessment indicated that the cranium was well preserved, exhibiting only minor surface abrasion/erosion, which may have resulted from its movement through the river. The dark staining and smooth, almost polished appearance of the skull, also could be the result of having been in a flowing body of water for a period of time. The individual was an adolescent (therefore unsexed), or possibly a young adult female, at the time of death. Observed lesions included non-specific inflammation of the cranial vault and iron-deficiency anaemia or vitamin B12/folic acid deficiency. Both of these were minor, healed lesions. Comparisons with other, possibly contemporary, crania recovered from rivers and mosses in Cheshire, and the North West more generally, may be worthwhile, particularly with reference to the condition of the bone and the modifications reflecting fluvial transportation.

<2> Professor Gordon T Cook, 2021, Radiocarbon Dating Report to Cellmark Forensic Services on a Human Cranium, R4565 (Client Report). SCH9159.

<3> Chester Archaeological Society, Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society, Vol.94 p.41-62 (Journal/Periodical). SCH1595.

"A late Iron Age–early Roman skull from the River Gowy, near Tarvin, Cheshire.Radiocarbon dated to the late Iron Age–early Roman period, the skull belonged to an unsexed adolescent or possibly a young adult female. The circumstances in which this skull came to enter the river are not known, there being no evidence to confirm ritual activity or accidental/traumatic death. The taphonomy of the skull indicates that it had not been transported far by the river before becoming submerged in its deposits."