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I would suggest putting this article through
GA review. A history reviewer could help alot in cleaning up the small stuff in this article we always need more reviewed articles that certify quality on History, esp. Anglo-Saxon History.
Sadads (
talk) 13:44, 5 February 2011 (UTC)reply
Preservation
The article says that ‘many’ bodies were buried in soil alkaline enough to allow bones to come to us. This implies that most were in wetter, more acidic soils that rot bones within centuries (or even years). What might the ratio be? 1:2?
Resources on crime and funerals tend to say that bodies quite commonly rot away after a couple of decades, a couple of centuries in sandier ground, and can only be expected to last millennia in climates like Egypt's, or in extreme circumstances like the Pompeian eruption. However, I have seen people claim that uncremated bodies *normally* last millennia. Surely we would have hundreds of thousands of perfectly intact skeletons from each of almost every single place and time in history then. That doesn't seem to be the case. Going back to as far as Anglo-Saxon times, we seem to have random, luckily preserved skeletons. If rotting away were rare, I'd expect to have the skeleton of every king and bishop at least. I don't think we do.
Correctrix (
talk) 09:45, 10 June 2022 (UTC)reply
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Ancient Germanic studies, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Ancient Germanic studies articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Ancient Germanic studiesWikipedia:WikiProject Ancient Germanic studiesTemplate:WikiProject Ancient Germanic studiesAncient Germanic studies articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Anglo-Saxon KingdomsWikipedia:WikiProject Anglo-Saxon KingdomsTemplate:WikiProject Anglo-Saxon KingdomsAnglo-Saxon Kingdoms articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Middle Ages, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
the Middle Ages on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Middle AgesWikipedia:WikiProject Middle AgesTemplate:WikiProject Middle AgesMiddle Ages articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Archaeology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
Archaeology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
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This article is within the scope of WikiProject Death, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
Death on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
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This article is within the scope of WikiProject Cemeteries, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
Cemeteries on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.CemeteriesWikipedia:WikiProject CemeteriesTemplate:WikiProject CemeteriesCemeteries articles
I would suggest putting this article through
GA review. A history reviewer could help alot in cleaning up the small stuff in this article we always need more reviewed articles that certify quality on History, esp. Anglo-Saxon History.
Sadads (
talk) 13:44, 5 February 2011 (UTC)reply
Preservation
The article says that ‘many’ bodies were buried in soil alkaline enough to allow bones to come to us. This implies that most were in wetter, more acidic soils that rot bones within centuries (or even years). What might the ratio be? 1:2?
Resources on crime and funerals tend to say that bodies quite commonly rot away after a couple of decades, a couple of centuries in sandier ground, and can only be expected to last millennia in climates like Egypt's, or in extreme circumstances like the Pompeian eruption. However, I have seen people claim that uncremated bodies *normally* last millennia. Surely we would have hundreds of thousands of perfectly intact skeletons from each of almost every single place and time in history then. That doesn't seem to be the case. Going back to as far as Anglo-Saxon times, we seem to have random, luckily preserved skeletons. If rotting away were rare, I'd expect to have the skeleton of every king and bishop at least. I don't think we do.
Correctrix (
talk) 09:45, 10 June 2022 (UTC)reply