Study Dates Human Remains Recovered From the River Thames

LONDON, ENGLAND—According to a Live Science report, radiocarbon dating of ancient human skeletons recovered from the River Thames indicates that they date to between 4000 B.C. and A.D. 1800. Nichola Arthur of London’s Natural History Museum said that most of the remains dated to the Bronze Age, between 2300 and 800 B.C., and the Iron Age, between 800 B.C. and A.D. 43. These bones were recovered in upstream zones of the river, she added. “We can now say with confidence that these don’t appear to just be bones that have steadily accumulated in the river through time,” she explained. “There really was something significant going on in the Bronze and Iron Ages.” Arthur thinks the practice of depositing remains in the Thames may be part of a pattern of placing bodies in watery places and boggy patches that has been observed in other areas of northwestern Europe. It has also been suggested that bodies ended up in London’s river through warfare, drowning, or the erosion of riverbank burials. To read about a pair of medieval leather boots recovered near the Thames, go to "Die With Your Boots On."