The children of Hambledon Hill: Tracing grief and community through osteological investigation of articulated human remains at Neolithic causewayed enclosures

Abstract

Amidst the diversity of funerary practices seen in the British Neolithic, articulated burial stands out as unusual. As such, their analysis offers a rare insight into the lives and deaths of individuals. This article focuses on the children found at the Main and Stepleton causewayed enclosures at Hambledon Hill, Dorset, in order to explore their individual lifeways, pathologies and funerary practice. By applying an approach that melds osteobiography with the index of care, this detailed analysis demonstrates that even fragmentary and poorly preserved remains hold a wealth of information and careful, macroscopic methods can uncover rich and interesting stories. Drawing on ethnographic and philosophical literature further enables an exploration of grief and community in the Neolithic. The prevalence of congenital pathologies and the care which went into each funerary deposit may provide an explanation for the singling out of these individuals for deposition at causewayed enclosures. These health conditions may have meant these children occupied special social positions, involving whole communities in their care, making their loss particularly impactful