First I thought it was a typo. Medieval and 500 years ago?
11
How fascinating. I'd love to see a Time Team Special on these digs. I wonder how my old pals Tony, Phil, and the rest have fared.
5
Waders are commonly worn by fishermen in streams, surf and tidal areas. Insulation from cold water is one reason. A hazard of wearing hip boots in flowing water is when water fills them. The weight of water in the boots makes the wearer dangerously top heavy, making It difficult to walk or remain upright without taking them off. It is also extremely difficult to extricate oneself from river muck which holds you like a vise. I believe this man drowned either by being caught by an incoming tide or stepping into a pocket of ooze. He may have died because of his boots.
59
This reminds me of one of my favorite NYT headlines -
"Fashion Faux Pas Excavated"
The story was about a recently unearthed Romano-British statue that appeared to be wearing - horrors! - socks with its sandals. The article quoted the archaeologist saying how very embarrassed she felt for the statue.
26
Curious boots. Well-preserved for 500 years in the mud. Hard to imagine they were made for water or mud work... bare feet must have served better. As high as they go, there is likely a fashion aspect, whether or not they were widely trendy at the time. Dandy boots?
Thanks for the article; hopefully MOLA will have further reports as the bones and boots reveal their secrets.
5
or perhaps he was murdered? or the thigh-high boots are very
"Pretty Woman"-ish, so perhaps a male counterpart?
what a great story this skeleton has buried with him!
4
The Medieval period was already over 500 years ago.
"In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages (or Medieval period) lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery."
Middle Ages - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages
15
Perhaps the remains can be given to Caroline Wilkinson, director of the School of Art & Design at Liverpool John Moores University in England. She can give the remains facial reconstruction to see what this person really looked like!
8
Just putting a little more nuance in defining the middle ages. Just as the fall of the Roman empire in 476 CE signaled the beginning of the Middle Age (also referred to the Medieval period or even Dark Ages) so the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, followed by the collapse of the Byzantine empire, traditionally marks the end of the Middle Age. Both events had devastating effect on much of the population of Europe and its order, and thus appropriately are designated as markers of human historical epochs.
As the article describes, the age of the skeleton could be as old as 500 years (an upper limit), which would place the individual to have lived sometimes in the first quartile of the 16th century, clearly in a time period now defined as the Renaissance and much beyond the cusp of the Medieval period.
39
@Rudy Ludeke In England the end of the Middle Ages and the begining of the Renaissance is not marked by the collapse of the Byzantine empire, but by the fall of Richard III and the ascent of Henry VII, Battle of Bosworth Field, 1485.
14
@Roxanne Pearls But Mr Ludeke's point -- that this skeleton dates from the Renaissance and not the Middle Ages -- remains valid even under your historical markers. A 30-year old individual who died in approximately 1520 would have been born about 1490, a few years after Richard III died (Aug 22, 1485) and was "irreverently buried" in a place that was to become a parking lot.
6
great piece. it's incredible what technology can teach us on land, sea, air and space--and our inner space.
6
It's good to get a reference point from 500 years ago. Hard to fathom such distance of time otherwise. I note that this water project that dug up our sartorial subject is motivated by the scourge of flooding caused by rising seas and pouring rains the likes of which were not witnessed or imagined by the subject in his day.
What will people be digging up or sailing over 500 years from now? Sure looks like London will have a soggy bottom.
12
Humans have really not changed that much. Perhaps this man was a cross dressing wharf walker? Trendy Englishman at the time?
10
What's also intriguing is that no one retrieved the poor man after his unfortunate accident. The poor old sod was just left there! RIP, poor old fisherman who never got a decent burial.
32
@gf My thoughts exactly! Sad to think a fella could drop dead and people would just go right on with their mudlarking.
5
@gf
I sense he may have fallen in without anyone seeing him. He could have been working or simply walking alone at twilight or early evening. Or perhaps he was a victim of robbery or some other violence. It was a brutal time and poverty was widespread. Perhaps he had a heart attack or stroke and fell in.
Too bad there are no records of “missing person” reports for the time. He may have simply disappeared with family and friends having no clue as to how, where, and why. Fascinating!
13
Yes, mudlarking is great fun. On a recent trip to London, my wife and I, a pair of native New Yorkers accompanied by our adventurous English friend, happened upon the Thames at low tide. Getting onto the river was no problem, there are many great public access points, particularly around the area called Wapping. Ask a local to point out the "Execution Dock" and you're likely to get both directions and a great story. Once out on the mudflats, just a bit of digging turned up some great artifacts, including bits of clay pipes, some Georgian hexagonal glass, and ceramic shards from dishware with clearly visible crests and other identifying marks. It was one of the highlights of our visit, but if you undertake this, you should be prepared, as it is a smelly and dirty activity. Next time I'll be better ready with Wellingtons, disposable gloves, some proper digging tools and a few plastic bags in which to transport our treasures. It all makes for an unforgettable experience! Tally-ho!
43
@Mike Gera It should be noted that as of late 2016, any digging of the Thames tidelands, even casually, requires a permit — and if you wish to take any of your finds home, an export license to boot. A £30+ permit takes a bit of the fun out of it, but for an afternoon's entertainment in London one could certainly do worse.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/mudlarks-on-thames-told-to-get-32-permits-to-save-heritage-a3412266.html
14
Perhaps a precursor to “Wellies”. Maybe the Duke copied them years later!
8
Wouldn't 500 years ago be more properly categorized as renaissance than medieval? Columbus had voyaged to America, Luther published his reformation theses in 1517 and Leonardo died in 1519.
50
@Steve M
Gutenberg developed the printing press with movable type in the 1450's. That was a definitive technological turning point between eras.
Technology, exploration, reformation and the exemplary renaissance man, Leonardo, all argue that we do better to call Europe renaissant rather than medieval in the 16th century.
Of course the poor fellow stuck in the mud probably wasn't worrying about the boundaries of historical eras.
11
@Steve M ... I was surprised as well by the terminology. My hunch is that author of the press release (MOLA Headland is a private company) was trying to juice the announcement to increase coverage, which obviously worked. The press release is posted at molaheadland.com under news.
3
@Steve M
More accurately it would be "modern period" or "early modern period".
1
Umm, yeah...a mere 500 years ago does not qualify as "medieval."
20
Yes and no. 1500 AD is right on the cusp of end of Late Medieval and beginning of Renaissance. There's no hard and fast date between the two "periods of history." confirm with wikipedia, etc. I would personally have avoided using the word "Medieval" for 1500 AD since it is on the cusp. Dark Ages is rarely used by historians because it is so vague. In literature studies you often see the distinction between the reign of Henry and Elizabeth as the point of demarcation for Medieval and Renaissance literature. Again, there isnt uniform agreement what Medieval Age means.
19
@Josh Lepsy
Umm, yeah... Why do you post incorrect things instead of just looking up the info?
You're already on the internet:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages#Terminology_and_periodisation
The medieval era in Europe was roughly 500-1500, so this skeleton was from the late middle ages.
Simple stuff.
5
@Josh Lepsy
Oops, my bad, I meant 1485, Battle of Bosworth Field.
1
Mudlarking is still a popular hobby on the banks of the Thames. See the many YouTube videos for what people are finding. Looks like great fun.
8
There seems to be good evidence that this is the man who wrote Shakespeare's plays.
55
Hence found lying in the mud face-down. Bill would like that.
9