RECENT revelations about Racton Man got me thinking. Reader's voice: "Aw jeez, here comes trouble."
Fear not, for I am not going to attempt anything profound, as we all know the mire into which that has often led us on previous occasions. No, I just wanted to muse about time, evolution, the human race, stuff like that.
Reader's despair-laced voice: "You mentioned Racton Man earlier. I take it this is a male person from the vicinity of, er, Racton." Well deduced, sir.
Racton Man was found on farmland in the hamlet of, er, Racton, West Sussex, in 1989, but it is only now, with technological advances, that top archaeologists have been able to tell us something about him.
Radiocarbon dating of his remains by the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre in Glasgow showed that he died some time between 2150BC and 2300BC.
Analysis of his teeth by Durham University showed that he was probably brought up in southern Britain. And, at the Novium Museum in Chichester, where Raccie's skeleton has gone on display, specialists revealed more intriguing facts about the unfortunate fellow.
First, and more fortunately, he was 6ft tall which, back in the day, would have made him a giant. Secondly, although he was only about 45-years-old, already he suffered from spinal degeneration, a chronic sinus infection, an abscess and tooth decay.
Wow, doesn't say much for the NHS back then. Still, 45 was a decent innings at the time, and it was only cut short when some blaggard took a swipe at his arm with a sword. The Big Man bled to death.
He was a warrior, almost certainly a mighty chief, so the manner of his death is hardly surprising. He was found clutching a bronze dagger, one of the very early models, decorated with tiny studs that would have glistened in the light. Cool.
Still, those who live by the dagger die by the sword. It makes me think how times have changed. I know that's glib and that we're still at each other's throats.
It's more the illnesses that got me cogitating. And you don't have to go back 4,000 years. Only 150 years ago, I'd probably have been deid by noo, blootered by some rubbish disease that we just laugh at now.
Medical advances and a better diet have improved our lives so much in so short a time that we really should think ourselves lucky, relatively speaking at least.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article