Course: Archaeology and the Battle of Dunbar 1650: From the Scottish Battlefield to the New World

This is the original text of a letter written by Oliver Cromwell to the honourable Sir Arthur Haselrigge, Governor of Newcastle, from Dunbar, 5th September 1650. Written in the 17th …

For the Scots Parliament and Kirk the defeat at Dunbar was a national disaster. The Commissioners of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland ordered national fasts in repentance. …

The Battle of Dunbar was brutal and over within an hour, Cromwell’s superior troops and tactics winning the day. No detailed Scottish accounts of the battle survive but there is …

This video tells the story of the battle of Dunbar from an imagined point of view of one of the soldiers who was taken prisoner.

In the summer of 1650 Oliver Cromwell and his English army crossed the border into Scotland. He led his men as far as a line of fortifications linking Edinburgh and …

Let’s quickly review the developing political dynamic between England and Scotland in the mid-17th century. This is important historical background to the archaeological discoveries we discussed in Weeks 1 and …

The 17th century was an age of revolution. The Civil Wars (or Wars of the Three Kingdoms) violently disrupted most of the British Isles. In 1637 the Scots rose in …

Our researchers at Durham University worked with specialists at the University of York, University of Bradford and Liverpool John Moores University. This information gave us a picture, or osteobiography, of …

The teeth in our mouths are prone to the build-up of a bacterial biofilm which we call ‘dental plaque’ or ‘tartar’. Today this is usually removed by brushing or by …

We have already seen how the isotopic composition of the enamel in our teeth is influenced by diet and environment. By comparing this composition to known natural variations it is …

The enamel of our teeth forms during childhood. Unlike bone, however, it is a dead tissue without a blood supply and neither renewed or repaired. Its isotopic composition is influenced …

Join us in Durham University’s Archaeological Isotopes Laboratory for further analysis of the skeletons.

Dating skeletons helps us understand when a person lived, worked and died. Radiocarbon dating is the most common and well-known dating technique used by archaeologists. It is based on the …

Six of the excavated individuals had unusual wear on their teeth. Two of them, both young adults, had smooth crescent-shaped wear on the front teeth consistent with the routine smoking …

In this video historical archaeologist Dr Pam Graves explores the kinds of further investigation which could be undertaken on the human remains, and what new information and knowledge that might …