As reported in MM 23.2, a site in Langford, Essex, has yielded the first cremation deposit dated to the Mesolithic in Britain (Gilmour and Loe 2015). Directly dated to 5657–5561 cal BC (95.4% probability, based on two separate dates on calcined bone successfully combined in OxCal 4.2: 6692 ± 21 BP, χ2, T = 0.0(5%3.8)), the deposit contained what appear to be the partial cremated remains of a single adult. While the loss of the organic fraction precludes stable isotope analyses for dietary reconstruction, recent experimental studies have shown that it is possible to obtain reliable in vivo strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) values on calcined bone, due to the high crystallinity resulting from the cremation process (Snoeck et al. 2015; see also Harbeck et al. 2011; Harvig et al. 2014). Here, we present the results of the strontium isotope analysis of the Langford cremation, and discuss what this means for the mobility of this individual. This is the first time the method has been applied to cremated bone from the Mesolithic period.
