Abdelrahman
London residents may be surprised to learn that over the last two centuries, numerous human skeletal remains have been unearthed from the River Thames. Recent studies reveal that a significant number of these bones date back to prehistoric eras.
A team of researchers in the U.K. has analyzed the remains of 61 individuals retrieved from this historic river, establishing that a majority originate from the Bronze Age and Iron Age. While the exact reasons behind the bodies being submerged in the river thousands of years ago remain unclear, the prevalence of such cases from approximately 2300 BCE to 43 CE has led scientists to propose that these instances of deposition were deliberate.
“We can confidently assert that these remains do not merely represent bones that have gradually gathered in the riverbed over time,” said Nichola Arthur, a curator at the Natural History Museum in London and co-author of a recent study published in the journal Antiquity. She elaborated in an interview with Live Science, stating, “There was definitely something significant happening during the Bronze and Iron Ages.”
The research team utilized radiocarbon dating, a reliable technique for dating organic remains, to age 30 previously undated skeletons. They integrated this new data with earlier findings, establishing a chronological framework for 61 human remains extracted from the Thames. While these remains span nearly 6,000 years—from 4000 BCE to 1800 CE—most are traced back to the Bronze and Iron Ages, confirming the previously noted prevalence of these time periods within the findings.
Conversely, the dearth of remains dated between approximately 300 and 600 CE could indicate a drop in population in the London region from the late Roman era in the early fifth century CE until the emergence of the Saxon trading settlement of Lundenwic in the early seventh century CE, Arthur noted, along with her co-authors Jane Sidell, a principal inspector of ancient monuments at Historic England, and Heather Bonney, the principal curator of anthropology collections at the Natural History Museum.
The research team dismissed the idea that the remains found in the Thames resulted from the erosion of Bronze Age and Iron Age burials since no archaeological evidence supports this theory. Instead, they propose that the bones might be linked to broader ceremonial practices of “watery deposition” known to exist in northwestern Europe during those times. They also reference material culture evidence suggesting that the Thames may have served as a site of votive significance.
If this discovery sparks your interest in searching for ancient artifacts along the Thames, don’t forget that you need a permit, and be aware that there is currently a waitlist!
