The ivy and the palm: Care and mourning for a child buried in 19th-century Madrid, Spain

Objective

To evaluate indicators of care and symbolism in a mid-19th-century child burial.

Materials

Mummified human remains, a medical bandage, remnants of plants and clothing.

Methods

Dental radiography, scanning electron microscopy, botanical identification, clothing description, a review of funerary iconography.

Results

A dental age between 5.5 and 6.5 years and a female sex were estimated. The bandage on the left arm contained a metal plate composed of copper and zinc, and an ivy leaf (genus Hedera). A palm branch (Phoenix dactylifera) was placed in the coffin, and the corpse was dressed in blue clothing.

Conclusions

The bandage combines traditional knowledge (Hedera leaf) and contemporaneous recommendations from medical texts (metal plate) and represents a case of care of a child in mid-19th-century Madrid. The blue clothing and braided palm branch represent a Christian codified mourning for her death.

Significance

Evaluating funerary objects alongside skeletal remains has provided insight into ways in which traditional medical treatment, alongside current religious symbolism was intertwined to provide care and to mourn for a 19th-century child.

Limitations

Preservation concerns and time constraints due to reburial precluded a complete study of the remains, and the type of ivy leaf (fertile) limits identification at the species level.

Suggestions for further research

A review of plant use in the funerary and paleopathological record during the Early Modern Period.