'Safe moor'd in Greenwich tier'; a study of the skeletons of Royal Navy sailors and marines excavated at the Royal Hospital Greenwich.

9780904220513

'Safe moor'd in Greenwich tier'; a study of the skeletons of Royal Navy sailors and marines excavated at the Royal Hospital Greenwich.

Boston, Ceridwen et al.

Lancaster Imprints

2008

157 pages

$26.00

Paperback

Oxford archaeology monograph; 5

DA677

The Royal Hospital at Greenwich was one of the first homes for British seamen who had been wounded on duty or, because of age, could not support themselves. This report of a dig made in 1999 and 2001 of the hospital cemetery of burials from 1749-1857 reveals a great deal about the lives of those sailors. A team from Oxford Archaeology conducted the study and they present a detailed, technical report of the dig itself and the findings. Because of the corrosion of identifying breastplates, individuals could not be named. However, the fact that they came from the same social class and occupation, with only a few exceptions, gave researchers the opportunity to extrapolate living conditions and diet from the bones and teeth. A great many of the men had lived into their sixties and seventies, even those who had suffered amputations. Their teeth showed wear from ropes and clay pipes. Most had the bone deterioration associated with age. Plates show the skeletons in situ and individual bones. There are several contemporary drawings of the sailors in life that give the bones back their humanity. This detailed archaeological report will certainly be useful to historians of the period who want to better understand the life of the common seaman in Nelson's Navy. Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co.

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