In 1992 human bones were discovered in the cliff face at Reculver, it was concluded that they belonged to three different skeletons

The first belonged to an adult and was part of the mandible that was studied.It was not possible to age accuartely since the maxilla was not avaliable and too few teeth in the mandible remained to be able to do so. The teeth were lost post-mortem. But the degree of sttrition to the remaining teeth suggested it was not a young adult. The sex too cannot be accuarte but due to the smooth curve of the chin it was suggested that sex was female. The remains shows that they suffered from chronic periodontal disease.

The second individual was thought to be a juvenile between the ages of 16-24, represented by two vertebrae, thoracic eleven and twelve. The tips of the pinous are both unfused and thus suggest that the individual is under 25, but the size suggest a person older than 15. The anterior vascular groove is still present, in 75% of cases this is obliterated by the age 8/9 but the persistence may have increased posterior curvature of the spine, or kyphosis. Buit there is no evidence for hunched back deformity. There are lesions on the spine which suggests early stages of Schmorl node development which is caused by sevre strain, this is more common in male butt he sex of the remains cannot be specified.

The final individual is aged between 4-5 year and is represented by a left radius, or lower arm bone. Both epiphyses are unfused and the length sugegst the age but no sex was determined.

None of the bones showed evidence of cause of death. These skeletal remains are likely to be associated with the cemetery and church founded in the 7th century, they are unlikely to be Roman due to the land use in the Roman period. (1)

<1> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 1992, Reculver Towers: Chance Finds (Unpublished document). SKE17232.