Gribshunden

Human skeleton belonging to the burial F2

Context 623 corresponds to the skeleton found in an articulated primary position within the burial F2. Its preservation is generally good, although some stones from the cover (c626, c614, c618) have fallen, and other anomalies appear to have been caused by animal activity.

The skeleton belongs to a young adult (confirmation pending through osteological analysis) and is positioned in a flexed posture on its left side, facing north.

The left arm lies along its body in a semi-flexed posture, while the right arm is bent in 90° angle crossing the torso. The legs are flexed and the right foot remains in a natural position, though the left foot is missing. As with the rest of the body, the head is positioned on the left side, framed by two stones (c637). It is likely that the right shoulder initially rested on the southern stone, as the right scapula was found diretly behind it.

The mandible is closed, bloked by the head of the humerus. The upper part of the spine and the right hand were disturbed, likely by animal burrows. Some ribs from the right side are missing ; however, the ribs found in the upper deposit (c621) may belong to the individual could have moved by animal as well (confirmation pending through the analysis of the deposit). The position of the left fingers remain unclear (was hand closed, or was it disturbed by animals?).

Additionally, some stones from the cover (c614) were found directly on the left coxal bone and against the right coxal bone, while the heavy central stone c626 were found in a neearly vertical position above the left femur, broken into four pieces along a concave curve. It is hypothesized that an animal burrow caused this anomaly by creating a void under the femur.

There is a linear delimitation / demarcation from the block behind the back of the head to the left foot. This alignement may be attributed to the morphology of the pit. However, the right humerus shoud have fallen laterally towards this linear limit behind the back of the deceased. The presence of a wall is postulated to have prevented the humerus from falling due to gravity during the decompostion. This suggests the initial presence of an organic wall (such as wood, textile, etc.) against the right arm. Alternatively, this could be due to the erosion of the pit wall, and the suubsequent deposition of sediment against the right arm.

Based on these preliminary observations, it is hypothesized that the burial was not immediately filled with soil after the inhumation, but was possibly sealed with a light cover of organic material (such as branches), over which the stone and soil cover (c614, c618, c626, c629) was placed. The degradation of the organic material likely caused the progressive infiltration of soil into the tomb.

No artefacts were clearly associated with the indivual. However, a flint (c619 #6), a tooth (619 #14), six shells (619 #13, #22, #23, #24, #25, #26), found in the area of the mandible, neck and shoulder, have been recorded separtely. Additionally, two sherds of pottery (c624 and 619 #9) were recorded separately due to their peculiar position within the burial.