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Skeleton 472 is the remains of Ann Purvis, excavated from a small trench in the graveyard of St. Hilda's Church, Coronation Street, South Shields, on the south bank of the River Tyne in the northeast of England (Figure 1). The remains of 204 individuals were recovered from this part of the graveyard, which was in use between 1816 and 1855. Purvis was one of fifty-two skeletons identified as adult female (alongside fifty-one adult men; the others were mainly children or young infants) but one of only two female skeletons for whom a full name was recoverable from the site. A rare coffin plate bears her full name with the year of her burial, barely legible.1 Ann Purvis died on 14 October 1849 and was buried on 17 October 1849, aged fifty-six.2
The extent of the survival of Purvis's skeleton is limited.3 Her spine, ribs, and pelvis are entirely absent apart from two vertebrae at the base of her skull (cervical 1 and 2) and sections from the protruding edges of her hip bones (the ilium). The parts of her skeleton that survive are largely incomplete or in fragments; the exceptions are her lower jaw, pieces from her collarbone and shoulder bones, the uppermost sections of her left and right arms (the proximal humerus), and her kneecaps. Three of her teeth were also found, two from her upper jaw and one from her bottom jaw. The infilling of the sockets of her lost teeth with new bone shows that most tooth loss occurred some considerable time prior to her death. Both femurs and one tibia display periosteal reaction (evidence of inflammation of the tissue surrounding the...