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The Medieval Jewish

Cemetery at Jewbury,
York
JANE McCOMISH
Published online: 11 Jun 2012.

To cite this article: JANE McCOMISH (2000) The Medieval Jewish

Cemetery at Jewbury, York, Jewish Culture and History, 3:2, 21-30, DOI:
10.1080/1462169X.2000.10512218

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 The Medieval Jewish Cemetery
at Jewbury, York

JANE McCOMISH
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The article concerns excavations which took place in 1983 at York's medieval Jewish
cemetery at Jewbury. The article details aspects of the burial customs seen at the site
and how these differed from both contemporaneous Christian cemeteries and from
present day Jewish practices. In addition the article covers aspects of the skeletal
information recovered in terms of life expectancy, health and patterns of disease.
Considering the Christian response to the Jews in their midst, the evidence for
deliberately induced traumas present on the skeletons is also discussed.

In 1982 proposals were submitted to York City Council to redevelop an area

of land called Jewbury, which lies just outside the medieval city wall of
York on the north-eastern side. Although it was known that the Jews of
medieval York had their own cemetery, the precise location of this burial
ground was unknown. While the place name Jewbury clearly suggested a
Jewish connection it was far from clear if the site was indeed that of the
medieval Jewish cemetery, or simply a block of land owned by the Jewish
community. The site developers commissioned York Archaeological Trust
to carry out trial excavations in 1982, consisting of six small trenches
scattered across the redevelopment area, in which approximately 20
medieval burials were located. The burials proved the existence of a
cemetery, and gave its approximate limits, but did not prove whether the
burials were Jewish or Christian. Clearly both documentary and
archaeological research was required to answer this question. Larger scale
excavations took place in 1983, but only on those areas directly threatened
by redevelopment. In all 482 burials were recovered; however,
approximately half the cemetery remains unexcavated. The results of the
excavations have been published by Lilley, Stroud, Brothwell and
Williamson. 1 This article represents a summary of some aspects of the full
publication, and thanks are expressed to all those involved in the original
research, whose work forms the basis of this article.
Despite being resident in England for over two centuries, relatively few
physical remains of the medieval Jewish community survive, unless of

Jewish Culture and History, Vol.3, No.2 (Winter 2000) pp.21-30

PUBLISHED BY FRANK CASS, LONDON
 22 JEWISH CULTURE AND HISTORY

course you count all of the Christian buildings financed by Jewish money-
lending activities. The large-scale excavation of the Jewbury cemetery in
York therefore offered a rare opportunity to provide tangible evidence of the
medieval Jewish community, its life and death. At the time of excavation
Jewbury was the only example of a medieval Jewish cemetery in England
to undergo extensive archaeological investigation (although a few graves
had been excavated at both the London and Winchester cemeteries). The
Jewbury excavations offered the chance to ask a range of questions relating
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to medieval Jewry, questions which can be broadly divided into three

groups. First, the information recovered regarding burial practices, in terms
of both the layout of the cemetery and of the bodies within it, enabled
comparisons to be made with other medieval Jewish cemeteries, with
medieval Christian cemeteries and with present-day Jewish burial practices.
Second, a range of questions was asked relating to the bones themselves, in
terms of the population size, life expectancy, and health of the medieval
Jewry. It was hoped that the distinctive dietary traditions of the Jewish
community would be reflected in differing patterns of disease, or even life
expectancy, as compared with their Christian neighbours. In addition it was
possible that the distinct ethnic origins of the Jewish community, coupled
with its isolation within the population as a whole, might also be reflected
in the skeletal record. Finally, there was the question of the relationship
between the Jewish and Christian communities. What evidence would there
be for anti-semitic violence? This is an especially poignant question given
the particularly notorious events of 1190 in York.
Documentary research confirmed that the Jewbury cemetery was indeed
that of the medieval Jewish community. The cemetery came into use
sometime after 1177, when a law was passed enabling provincial Jews to
purchase land outside towns and cities for use as cemeteries. Prior to this all
Jews in England had to be buried at the Jewish cemetery at Cripplegate in
London. Jewbury was one of nine provincial Jewish cemeteries to be
established and, as the 1177 law required, the cemetery was located outside
York, adjacent to the city wall on the north-eastern side of the city. The
cemetery went out of use with the expulsion of the Jews from England in
1290, after which the Jewbury area became open ground used for
horticulture, a situation that continued for over five centuries. The use of the
site for horticulture over such a prolonged period ensured a build up of
garden-type soils c.1.50m thick, which largely protected the burials from
damage when terraced housing was constructed on the site in the mid-
nineteenth century.
As already stated, it was hoped to learn as much as possible regarding
the burial practices of the medieval Jews. It is known from documentary
research that the York cemetery, in common with other medieval Jewish
 THE MEDIEVAL JEWISH CEMETERY AT JEWBURY, YORK 23
cemeteries, was originally surrounded by ditches and a wall. No trace of a
wall was found, but it probably stood at the very edge of the Jewish
property, which was outside the area of excavation. Within the cemetery the
area used for burials was defined, initially at least, by a series of ditches up
to 2m wide and lm deep. These were located on the north-eastern, north-
western and along part of the south-western side of the cemetery. Any
similar ditch on the south-eastern side of the cemetery was again outside the
area of excavation. Parallel to the ditches were a number of narrow gullies
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of uncertain function, although it is possible that they represent slots for

fences or hedges. The limits of burial were also partly defined on the south-
western side of the cemetery by a stony deposit, which may represent either
a path around the burials, or possibly the entrance into the burial area.
At some stage during the use of the cemetery, the north-eastern and
south-western boundary ditches were deliberately backfilled and burials
were placed both directly above and slightly beyond the ditches. The burials
above the infilled ditches were far more closely spaced than in the
remainder of the cemetery, implying that space for burial was at a premium.
It seems likely, therefore, that the infilling of the ditches was to create
further space for burials within an overcrowded cemetery.
A belief that seems to have been fundamental to Jews throughout the
medieval period was that there should be no disturbance of the burials.
Should overcrowding become a problem within a cemetery,
superimposition of burials was permitted, providing that six hand-breadths
of earth were placed between the tiers of burial. In theory this would prevent
any disturbance to the earlier graves. This belief is clearly reflected in the
layout of the graves at Jewbury, which were planned with care to avoid
intercutting. Only 12% of the graves on Jewbury were either intercut or
overlain, but damage to the bones within the earlier grave had occurred in a
mere 1.7% of burials. This lack ofintercutting between graves is in striking
contrast to any of the medieval Christian cemeteries in York, where
disturbance of earlier burials was often the norm. The presence of
superimposed burials at Jewbury again implies that lack of space was
forcing a more intensive use of the land available than had originally been
planned for. It must be noted, however, that only a few centimetres of earth,
and certainly not six hand breadths of soil, separated the tiers of burial at
Jewbury.
In terms of its layout the Jewbury cemetery can be divided into two
areas. The southern half of the cemetery was clearly the most organised
portion, with the burials evenly but closely spaced, in carefully laid out
rows. In places the rows were arranged literally head to toe, with no space
left for access between the graves. A similar lack of clear access paths is
also a feature of the medieval Jewish cemetery of Barcelona. Only a small
 24 JEWISH CULTURE AND HISTORY

number of graves in the southern half of the cemetery were superimposed.

By contrast, the northern half of the cemetery was more disorganised;
although burials were still in rows, these rows were less distinct and more
irregular. In addition there were areas devoid of burial, and other areas of
densely packed or superimposed burials. It is unclear why there should be a
difference in layout between the southern and northern halves of the
cemetery; there is, however, a documentary record that the cemetery was
extended to the north-east in c. 1230, and this may account for the
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difference, although there is no obvious reason why the layout should be

changed simply because the cemetery was extended.
In the majority of cases each grave cut contained a single burial. There
were, however, 14 examples of wider than average grave cuts containing
multiple burials laid side by side. The majority of these multiple burials
were of children, as there were only two examples where two adults in
individual coffins were placed side by side in a shared grave cut. It is
unclear why the practice of shared grave cuts existed, since it is contrary to
modem Jewish tradition. Perhaps these burials were the result of local
epidemics and it was simply more economical to excavate a common grave
rather than a series of individual ones. It is of interest that 17% of burials
above the original cemetery boundary ditches were in shared grave cuts as
compared with 3% of burials in the remainder of the cemetery. If the ditches
were infilled to create space in an overcrowded cemetery, this would imply
that the shared grave cuts are in some way related to the scarcity of land.
The Jewbury burials were aligned approximately south-west-north-east
(the head at the south-west) with some variations across the site. It is
possible that the burials were simply aligned in relation to the property
boundaries of the cemetery. It is also possible that when the bodies were
brought into the cemetery from the street of Barkergate they would naturally
be pointing to the north-east and were simply buried on this alignment. It
seems clear that there was no standard rule governing the alignment of
Jewish burials in the medieval period. Burials in the Jewish cemeteries at
Winchester and Cripplegate, London were aligned east-west, while those at
Worms, Germany, were aligned south-north. Clearly the alignment of these
medieval graves is at odds with the modem Jewish preference for an
east-west alignment.
In terms of the ratio of the sexes within the cemetery, 166 burials were
male, 152 were female, 142 were of children and 22 were adults who could
not be sexed. Given high infant mortality rates in the medieval period, the
number of children was far lower than would have been expected. These
low numbers are probably accounted for by the non-random distribution of
children within the cemetery, for all but 14 of the children were buried in
the south-eastern half of the cemetery. Clearly, had excavation been more
 THE MEDIEVAL JEWISH CEMETERY AT JEWBURY, YORK 25
extensive in this area the proportion of children would have greatly
increased. In addition to the clustering of child burials, there was one
noticeable cluster of male burials, in the south-western part of the cemetery;
it is possible this cluster may reflect the Jewish tradition of reserving an area
within the cemetery for the burial of rabbis. There were no distinct clusters
of female burials.
The lack of intercutting at Jewbury clearly implies that the graves were
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marked in some way. It is possible there would have been tombstones,

placed either vertically or horizontally. Against this it has to be said that
there was no evidence of slots to carry tombstones at the head end of the
Jewbury graves, nor was there evidence that stones had been removed after
cemetery usage ended in 1290. Neither have any re-used fragments of
Jewish tombstones turned up in York, despite extensive archaeological
investigation throughout the city for the last 30 years. This is in contrast to
Bristol, Cambridge, London and Northampton, where re-used fragments of
Jewish tombstones have been found. The lack of evidence for tombstones
may suggest that the burials were marked in some other way, such as by low
mounds of soil.
There were, however, four burials with packing stones in one comer of
the grave, implying wooden markers of some kind. Since none of the wood
was preserved it is impossible to be sure of the form such markers would
have taken, but an upright post is suggested. A single burial was surrounded
by small stake holes, implying a wooden fence around the grave. The
presence of wooden markers did not relate to the sex or age of the burials,
but these marked burials were clustered together. It is not clear if this cluster
represents a contemporaneous group of burials when wooden markers were
in fashion, or if the individuals concerned were buried with grave markers
due to the social status they held during their lives. This would, however, be
contrary to the strongly held Jewish belief that status should not be reflected
in burial. It is possible that many more graves originally had wooden
markers, but that no trace of these has survived.
Medieval illustrations of Jewish burials suggest that there was no
standard rule concerning the use of coffins. In the case of Jewbury virtually
all of the burials were associated with iron coffin nails. The maximum
number of nails in a coffin was 107. Just 34 burials lacked any associated
nails, but this need not mean that they lacked a coffin, as coffins can be
constructed entirely from wood. It is of interest that 13% of the child burials
lacked coffin nails as compared with 3% of adults, perhaps implying a
different burial ritual for children. There was only one case of two burials
in a shared coffin, an adult female buried with a baby. This possibly
represents a mother and new born who died as a result of the trauma of
childbirth and were buried together. The use of iron nails is at odds with
 26 JEWISH CULTURE AND HISTORY

modem Jewish practice, which stipulates that only wooden pegs should be
used. Since, however, Jewish medieval burials at Winchester, Barcelona and
Ennezat in France were also associated with iron nails, it is clear that no
tradition regarding the use of all-wooden coffins existed at that time.
Twenty burials contained iron coffin fittings in addition to, or instead of,
coffin nails. The practice is not related to the sex of the burials, but they
were largely clustered in the same area of the site as the burials with
evidence for wooden grave markers. Again this could either be a
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contemporaneous group of burials, or a reflection of personal wealth. It is

also known from documentary sources that the Jews of Lincoln shared the
cemetery at York for a time, and it is possible that more substantial coffins
would be built for transporting bodies over long distances. Perhaps,
therefore, the coffins with fittings could represent bodies brought from
Lincoln to York for burial.
On the whole, wood was very badly preserved on the site. Despite this,
two different types of timber have been identified from the coffins. In the
south-western part of the site a series of coffin stains of Scots pine (Pinus
sylvestris) were identified. By contrast, the mineralised timber fragments
adhering to the coffin fittings were of oak (Quercus sp(p)), and these were
located primarily in the north-eastern comer of the site. This suggests that
two different sources of timber were being used; if the burials with coffin
fittings are interpreted as being from Lincoln, it is possible to suggest that
the Lincoln coffins were of oak, while those from York were of Scots pine.
Alternatively, this variation could also be a reflection of wealth, an oak
coffin with iron fittings representing the most expensive of coffins.
There is little evidence to say whether the bodies were bound, wrapped
in a shroud, or dressed prior to placement in the coffin. Two of the burials
had bone toggles above their heads, which may represent some form of
shroud fastener. In addition, judging from their extremely constricted burial
positions, seven bodies seem to have been tightly bound before burial
(although it must be noted the same effect could be produced by a very
narrow coffin). The small number of examples suggests that the practice of
tightly binding bodies was not the norm for the cemetery. The examples
were scattered randomly throughout the cemetery and there was no
relationship to the sex of the burial. Again it is possible that these were
bodies brought from Lincoln to York for burial, and that the binding was an
attempt to prevent the body from becoming disarticulated through
decomposition during the journey.
A total of 13 different burial positions was noted on site, none of which
related to the sex or age of the individual. Over 70% of the skeletons lay
fully extended on their backs, showing a remarkably uniform burial ritual.
In the southern half of the cemetery nearly all burials were fully extended,
 THE MEDIEVAL JEWISH CEMETERY AT JEWBURY, YORK 27
whereas in the northern part a greater variety of burial positions was seen.
This again shows the southern portion of the cemetery to be the most
organised. The burial positions were compared to those noted in three
medieval Christian cemeteries within York (Saint Andrew's Priory,
Fishergate, Saint Helen-on-the-Walls, and Saint Benet's, Swinegate). At the
Christian cemeteries the majority of burials had both hands folded on the
body, while a maximum of 30% of burials were fully extended. There would
therefore seem to be a difference between the preferred burial positions at
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Jewbury as compared with the Christian sites. The Christian sites also had
a greater range of burial positions, which implies that Jews had a more
carefully controlled burial rite.
Almost half of all burials at Jewbury were disarticulated, with the degree
of disarticulation varying from a single bone being displaced to the entire
skeleton being jumbled. It is possible that since the site was close to the
River Foss, and the graves were dug into a poorly draining boulder-clay,
waterlogging had caused this movement of the bones. The processes of
decay within the coffin may also have caused some of the bone movement
seen. One of the commonest forms of disarticulation was the rotation of the
leg bones, and it is possible that the weight of the leg was sometimes
sufficient to cause it to part from the torso and then roll sideways, away
from the pelvis. In some cases this had caused the legs to face downwards.
There were six burials which lay outside the main cemetery area. The
burial positions of four of these skeletons could be determined, and in each
case they were unique in so far as this site is concerned. In addition one of
the burials was east-west, and a second was northeast-southwest with the
head at the northern end of the grave. In their unusual burial positions,
alignments and location away from other burials, these six individuals do
not conform to the site norm. There are two possible interpretations for this.
First, they could represent outliers to the medieval cemetery. Apostates were
forbidden burial within cemeteries/ so it is possible that these outlying
burials could represent people regarded as outcasts by the Jewish
community. Second, it is also possible that these burials could be Roman; a
Roman cremation burial was found during the excavations, and several
burials recovered from adjacent excavations are also of Roman date.
To summarise the information concerning medieval Jewish burial
practices, it is clear that the site was highly organised in terms both of layout
and of a carefully controlled ritual, which resulted in remarkably
standardised burials. Differences between medieval and current Jewish
practice were seen, most notably in the use of iron coffin nails and in the
south-west to north-east alignment of the burials, the modem preference
being for all-wooden coffins in an east-west orientation. Since other
medieval Jewish cemeteries also contain ironwork and varied orientations it
 28 JEWISH CULTURE AND HISTORY

is clear that burial rites have changed through time. Prior to excavation two
beliefs were thought to have been fundamental to Jewish burial practices in
the medieval period; the first was that buried bodies should not suffer
disturbance, and the second was that social status and wealth held in life
should not be reflected in death. While the first of these beliefs was clearly
observed at Jewbury, it is less clear if the second belief was as strictly
adhered to. While no personal objects indicative of wealth were buried
within the graves there was considerable variation in the elaboration of the
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coffins which, coupled with the possible presence of wooden markers on

only a few graves, may suggest that wealth was reflected in a subtle way.
Comparisons between the Jewbury cemetery and a number of medieval
Christian cemeteries in York revealed marked differences; Jews clearly took
far more care not to intercut graves and had a far more uniform burial rite
than their Christian counterparts.
In addition to the information on burial rites, it was recognised that a
detailed analysis of the skeletal remains would enable a variety of
comparisons to be made between the medieval Jewish population and the
contemporaneous Christian population of York. Matters such as health,
demography, stature could all have been explored in considerable
illuminating detail. However, as the bones were reburied, at the request of
some members of the present day Jewish community, almost immediately
after the excavations ceased, there was only a very limited amount of time
to study the skeletons. This was not ideal from the historical view point, and
it is to the great credit of a number of scholars that so much information was
finally obtained.
A principal component analysis was carried out between the cemetery of
Saint Helen-on-the-Walls, York, and Jewbury using various skull
measurements. The results showed clear differences but also a considerable
degree of overlap between the two groups. The Jewish skulls were on the
whole slightly larger, and showed less variation than the Christian ones.
This trend was most marked in the males. Comparisons of the stature of the
skeletons showed that the Jewish burials were on average slightly shorter
than those of the contemporaneous Christian population.
A number of congenital diseases were present on the Jewbury bones,
including a female with congenital displacement of the hips, and four
skeletons with a congenitally deformed sternum, but these congenital
illnesses are also typical of the Christian sites within York. More interesting
was the presence of three burials with congenital fusion of two upper
vertebrae; this is a fairly rare condition. It is unusual to find so many
examples and may imply a family link between the three bodies concerned.
In addition to the congenital diseases a number of other illnesses/injuries
were present within the Jewbury population including an elderly female
 THE MEDIEVAL JEWISH CEMETERY AT JEWBURY, YORK 29
with Pagets disease, a probable example of polio, six burials with benign
tumours, three with rickets, six with TB, and 15 skeletons with healed
fractures. The incidence of these diseases/injuries is comparable with
medieval Christian sites in York. The one disease that differed markedly
between the medieval Jewish and Christian populations of York was
anaemia. Overall 22% of the Jewbury burials were anaemic: 14.8% of
adults and 40.9% of children. The higher incidence among children might
be explained as the anaemic children being weaker and therefore more
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likely to die. The pattern of anaemia was very different at the Christian
cemetery of Fishergate, York, where 64% of children were anaemic, 36% of
females and 17% of males. It is possible that the Christian diet was less rich
in iron and that this explains the difference in the incidence of anaemia.
Another cause of iron deficiency anaemia is prolonged breast feeding, so it
could be that the Jewish custom was to wean children far more quickly on
to solid foods.
Another difference between Jewbury and the nearby Christian cemetery
of Saint Helen-on-the-Walls burials was the age at death. At Saint Helen-
on-the-Walls 16% of females and 32% of males were aged over 45 at the
time of death as compared to 30% of the Jewbury females and 28% of the
Jewbury males. So it would seem that the Jews, especially the females, lived
longer on average than their Christian counterparts. Again this may be a
reflection of different diets or even of better medical care.
Finally there was the question of the evidence for violence among the
Jewbury skeletons. There were six burials that showed deliberately induced
traumas. In one case these injuries consisted of a number of deep blade
wounds to the legs of a male aged 40+, who had clearly died as a result of
the attack. The other five cases of deliberate injury were to the skulls of the
people concerned. One female aged 50+ had a glancing blow across the top
of the skull, which had almost severed a disc of bone. This had healed,
proving that she had survived. A male aged 4{}-50 had also had a small slice
lopped off his skull, but he too had survived. An adult female exhibited a
badly cut eye orbit, but yet again had survived this injury. The remaining
two burials, which were located adjacent to one another within the
cemetery, had clearly suffered from vicious attacks. One was a female aged
15-20 years of age who had received five separate blows to the head from
a sharp, heavy-bladed weapon, that were clearly fatal. The adjacent burial
was a male aged 2{}-30 who had suffered a massive cut to the skull which
would certainly have resulted in brain damage. This individual did not die
immediately and seems to have undergone surgery; fine blade lines either
side of the cut suggest that the scalp was carefully lifted off the bone,
presumably to allow any splinters of broken bone to be carefully removed.
The fact that the bones began to heal without showing any signs of infection
 30 JEWISH CULTURE AND HISTORY

suggests that the surgery was carried out cleanly and with great skill.
Unfortunately, the individual died shortly after the surgery. The fact that the
victims of the two most violent injuries were buried adjacent to one another
may suggest that they died as a result of a single attack.
However horrific these individual cases of injury were, the overall
percentage of burials with trauma was less than in Christian cemeteries in
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York; for example, at Fishergate there were roughly twice as many

examples of blade injuries. It is of course impossible to say who was
responsible for the injuries seen on the Jewbury skeletons. There is no way
of proving whether or not they were the result of anti-semitism. Neither
were there concentrations of burials with injuries that might be taken to
indicate the 1190 massacre.
In summary, despite the limited nature of the excavations and the
extremely hurried circumstances of the post-excavation skeletal analysis,
the Jewbury project has significantly improved our understanding of the
medieval Jews of York. The distinctive layout and disciplined maintenance
of the cemetery together with the consistency of burial rite reflect the
coherence and character of this religiously isolated group within the
community. Jewbury has also allowed a reassessment of many of the
assumptions about medieval Jewish burial practice. It has shown that
traditions change through time. Modem Jewish custom prefers all wooden
coffins, an east-west alignment for burials, and one person per coffin and
one coffin per grave; clearly none of these traditions applied at Jewbury.
Enough of the cemetery was examined to allow a reasonable picture of the
skeletal characteristics of the Jewbury population to be obtained, and to
enable comparison with the Christian population of York. The Jews seem to
have been perceptibly shorter, and the principal components analysis
designed to identify possible genetic differences between the Jewbury and
the general English population of York did find some difference but also
showed a considerable degree of overlap. With the reburial of the bones,
however, these factors cannot be explored or understood further. Despite
this, the Jewbury project has succeeded in answering many questions
regarding the history, traditions and physical traits of the Jewish population
of medieval York.

NOTES

1. J.M. Lilley, G. Stroud, B.R. Brothwell and M.H. Williamson, The Jewish Burial Ground at
Jewbury, The Archaeology of York, 12.3 (1994).
2. The Universal Jewish Encyclopaedia (1948), p.598.