What lies beneath Rushen Abbey’s bones?

A series of short films about what we can learn from the bones of Rushen Abbey has been released online.

Created by Culture Vannin, in partnership with Manx National Heritage, the films are presented by leading Manx osteoarchaeologist, Marie Weale.

Using the actual bones themselves, Marie explains some of the recent discoveries made about Manx history which are only available to us now through modern analysis.

Rushen Abbey’s bones

The eight short films available on the Culture Vannin website and YouTube cover various topics.

While one looks at cancer in a leg bone over 1,000 years old, another considers the violent attacks survived another considers violent and ultimately fatal attacks as evidenced by a skull from the Early Medieval period.

Another film explains the evidence of Paget’s disease in the enlarged and weakened bone remains of someone living in the Isle of Man over a millennium ago.

But perhaps most interesting for many will be the consideration of the bones once thought to have been those of the Viking King of Mann, King Olaf II.

Using modern scientific analysis, Marie is able to unpick the story of these bones revealing secrets of the past.

These films were created by Culture Vannin following from Marie’s osteology work carried out in thanks partly to a grant from Culture Vannin.

Without such support, this important historical work uncovering previously hidden aspects of Manx history might never have been possible.

Bones investigated

All of the bones investigated came from various archaeological digs at Rushen Abbey, one of the Isle of Man’s most important Christian heritage sites.

Following the acquisition of the site by Manx National Heritage in 1998, there was an intensive and extensive programme of archaeological excavations.

These were aimed at uncovering and interpreting the physical remains of the medieval monastic site, but it is only now, with the advance of modern technology, that some of the details can be discovered.

The films are released to time with the publication of a new book, ‘Rushen Abbey: 100 years of excavation’ by Dr Peter Davey, available in Manx National Heritage shops.