Research Article

Purple Staining of Archaeological Human Bone: An Investigation of Probable Cause and Implications for Other Tissues and Artifacts

Figure 2

Worcester Cathedral Chapter House grave layout showing the distribution of burials distinguished by the presence of purple stained bone (red) versus those with only normal archaeological bone (green). The Chapter House is a circular structure, the foundations which have truncated some of the graves in a preexisting burial ground. The burials within the Chapter House would have been protected from subsequent taphonomic changes by the overlying built structure.