Bone samples and non-osteological analysis
Bone and teeth samples from the multiple burial of five
children (context number 3191) were provided by the Landesdenkmalamt
Berlin. Burial 3191 had been excavated and
recorded following the principles of single context recording.
The burial was recorded with photographs and conventional
survey techniques as well as with 3D-Laserscan (Fig. 1). There was
no textile or wood preserved but a pair of bronze tweezers was
found in the top fill of the grave above skeletons A–C (Supplement
Material S1) [4]. Following excavation, the skeletons were stored
in boxes under dry conditions at room temperatures of between 5
and 18 8C. The date of the burial was determined by radiocarbon
dating of bone from individual C who was shown to have died
between 1411 and 1445. The radiocarbon dating was carried out
in the Klaus-Tschira-Lab of the Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrum fu¨ r
Archa¨ometrie in Mannheim (cal 1 Sigma 1421–1439; cal 2 Sigma
1411–1445, [5]). X-radiography was performed in order to check
the long bones for any possible indication of malnutrition or
structural anomalies within the children’s skeleton.