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| The bodies as they were found in the Nowrich well. (Photo BBC) |
On 31st January, 2011 for the series “Interview with History”, Archeofilia published an interview with the English Archaeologist Giles Emery, who found a medieval well containing the remains of 17 people during the course of some excavations in Norwich. Of these people, whose bones have been dated back to the 12th or 13th Centuries, 6 were adults and shockingly enough 11 were children aged between two and 15.
Last week, 5 months after that interview, Archeofilia staff watched the documentary (unfortunately not available in Italy) that BBC produced about this mysterious case, called “History Cold Case: The Bodies in the Well”. The documentary presented the investigation work carried out by the BBC staff of the “History Cold Case” programme, who, thanks to the most modern technologies placed at their disposal by English Universities, have shed new light on a mystery the implications of which have turned out to be rather shocking for the community of Norwich.
The first hypothesis to be taken into consideration was that the people in the well had died of a disease, perhaps one of the epidemics that plagued medieval times. Norwich in the 12th and 13th Centuries was a thriving city, the second biggest in England after London. In particular, the area by the river where the well was situated was probably occupied by skinners who used human urine and faeces to soften leather. The run off from these substances after the processing went into the river. This gives us an idea of the highly unsatisfactory hygienic conditions of those areas of the town and explains why cat bones were also found among the human remains. Cat skin gloves were in fact considered valuable accessories across Europe in that era.
No wonder that in such a scenario epidemics were quite usual. The Black Death was discarded as a possible cause of death, as it spread to England only around 1348, and other less pandemic illnesses have been considered instead. Malaria, typhus or dysentery are all possibilities . An accurate analysis of the bones though, despite showing signs of malnutrition and anaemia, doesn't show any evidence of infectious illnesses which might have damaged the organism, or any particular traumas except for perimortem ones (those which happened immediately before or after the death) which were caused by the bodies’ fall into the well. As a matter of fact, bone fractures have been found only in the adults, who were the first to be thrown in the well, but not in the bodies of the children, whose falls were cushioned by the adult’s bodies.
The thing that has puzzled the people involved the most since the start of the investigation is the reason why these bodies were thrown down the well. Even if they had died of an illness, they would have been buried in the nearby cemetery (still existing), with all the respect that Christians pay to their dead brethren.
A visit to a London mass burial site from the Black Death period, showed the BBC staff that even in cases where hundreds of people were buried every day, the bodies were reposed in a respectful, Christian manner, with their head turned eastwards and their hands in their laps. No cases of burial similar to that of Norwich have been found in any other context from the England of that time or in this condition.
DNA analysis has revealed three important points: that at least 5 of these people were related, that they had lived in that area for a long time before their death and that their DNA sequence contained characteristics rather common to the DNA of Jews. Hence, the reason why these bodies had been buried in such an unchristian and merciless way was probably that they were NOT Christian.
A Jewish history expert has stated that, although Jewish funeral rites were quick and simple, no Jew would have buried their coreligionists in such a way, by disrespectfully throwing them headfirst down a well. This statement has cast the dark shadow of ethnic cleansing on the case.
In order to better understand the setting of this terrible event, the situation of Jews in England in the 12th or 13th Centuries must be considered. Jews arrived in England in 1066 with the Normans and settled in the largest and most populated cities like London, Norwich and York in order to find a market for their money-lending services. It was actually the king, who was in need of money, who had invited the Jews to England.
The interpretation of the Bible of that time, in fact, led Christians to consider loans made with interest as a severe sin, so the king had to turn to Jews. Over the years though, as the king’s need for money decreased, his protection of the Jewish community likewise waned, to the point that the authorities could no longer control the rage of the mob against this group. Jews were viewed with resentment and envy all over Europe because they earned money without labour and this gave rise to several popular legends. They were said to poison wells, spread plague and use Christian blood in their rituals. Anti-Semitic uprisings broke out all over the country. One of these, which took place in York in 1190, led an entire community to commit suicide.
In York, the Jewish community was besieged by the mob in the Clifford Tower. Their religious leader, who was aware of the massacres of Jews being committed across England in that period, ordered that the heads of the families should cut the throats of their kinsmen in order to spare them from an even worse death at the hands of the mob. He was then killed himself by a coreligionist. The episode is particularly significant for this study because it might have set a precedent for the Jewish family living near that well in Norwich.
However, there’s another plausible possibility. Records document an anti-Semitic riot in the 1230s during which houses of Jews were set on fire. The people might well have died from smoke inhalation and then been thrown down the well.
This is the statement that Giles Emery released to Archeofilia about the final results of the investigation:
"The results were indeed a surprise and although nobody was expecting a particularly uplifting conclusion the revelations were particularly saddening for all those who took part in the unfolding story. The History Cold Case team did a fantastic job and the additional scientific analysis has proved invaluable in giving these individuals back not only some form of identity but also their dignity. Although some follow up genetic testing is still on-going it appears that the group included close members of the same Jewish family– suggesting that a family line may have come to an end as the result of this tragedy and adding yet another layer of poignancy to the discovery. The isotope analysis appeared to demonstrate that they were established members of Norwich’s medieval Jewish community, perhaps even having settled here several generations previously.A heartfelt thanks to Giles Emery for his precious collaboration.
On a personal note the outcome was one I had considered but was clearly unprepared for on the actual day of ‘the reveal’. On the final day of filming I had spent the morning teaching local school children about archaeology and how important it is for archaeologists to act like ‘Time Detectives’, examining each piece of evidence as a valuable clue which can help to tell the best story about people from the past as possible. In this case the clues were not as obvious as pottery, coins or other artefacts – they were the bones of the people themselves. The legislation regarding the excavation and storage of human remains in England has been through some pretty worrying changes in recent years from the perspective of an archaeologist, with some human remains having to be reburied in such short time frames that no such opportunities existed for more detailed research. It just goes to show that the historic value of human remains should not be underestimated and that although I agree that respect and dignity can be afforded by reburial any missed opportunity to study human remains could in fact be in danger of achieving the opposite – effectively denying our predecessors the chance to share their story and perhaps enrich us all.
Since the news of the discovery was made more public I have been contacted by various interested parties who quite rightly were concerned as to the ultimate fate of the remains. I would like to assure people that the Jewish community of Norwich are at the heart of this process and that the best options for re-burial are currently being discussed. They will also consider what kind of public interpretation or commemoration might be suitable in the future. I would also like to assure people on behalf of those who are currently caring for the remains that their dignity will be at the forefront of everyone’s minds.
As I understand it a series of follow up genetic tests are currently under final completion and the results are likely to be published in a suitable academic journal by Dr Ian Barnes (University of London). The wider results are heading for dissemination in a suitable academic journal once all of the final results are complete. I would like to thank everyone involved for their help in this particular case, which demonstrates just how important new archaeological discoveries can be in challenging the accepted history of a place or community. Although we will never understand exactly how these men, women and children died I am now satisfied that the circumstances of their burial has reopened an important chapter of Norwich history for closer scrutiny. What we thought we knew about the medieval town’s relationship with its Jewish population has been changed irreversibly by this discovery."
(Article by Roberta Zanasi, 30 July 2011)
