Source/Archive record SCH9160 - A51 Tarvin Road Improvement Scheme, Chester, Cheshire: Assessment of Human Remains

Assessment of a human skull recovered from the River Gowy in September 2021, during works associated with bridge improvements as part of the A51 Tarvin Road Improvement Scheme, Chester, Cheshire (NGR: SJ 46625 67399). The purpose of the assessment was to establish whether there was any potential analysis which could be undertaken on the cranium. The assessment indicated that the Late Iron Age or early Roman cranium was well preserved, exhibiting only minor surface abrasion/erosion, which may have resulted from its movement through the river. 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. However, given that the cranium is disarticulated, and its original context is unknown, its research value is somewhat limited. That said, 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.