Left Like a Skeleton

Left Like a Skeleton explores the overlooked narratives embedded within marginalised spaces surrounding unidentified deaths. At the heart of this work is the nettle — a resilient, often disregarded plant that thrives in disturbed, nutrient-rich ground. Its abundance is frequently amplified by human presence, positioning it as a silent witness to spaces of trauma, abandonment, and isolation. Placing my work within the material afterlives: cycles of endings & beginnings, permanence, and transformation subject area for this open call.
 

Nettles are typically avoided, ignored, or overlooked — an attitude that mirrors the way society often responds to those who remain unidentified after death. Their marginalisation resonates with the possible lives of these individuals, who may have experienced social exclusion, chosen to disappear, or slipped through systemic gaps. In
this context, the nettle becomes both metaphor and material. Historically, nettles have occupied significant roles in both forensic and archaeological investigations. Forensic botanist Patricia Wiltshire employed nettle growth patterns to help determine timelines in the Soham investigation [1]. Similarly, archaeological studies have identified nettle fibres in burial contexts, confirming their use in Bronze Age textile production [2]. Drawing from these references, I reimagine the nettle as a botanical witness. As part of the work, I harvest nettles from specific locations and process them into hand-twisted cordage at each site. This slow, methodical act of making is a meditative form of engagement with the landscape and the stories held there. It invites reflection on the lives that once intersected with these places — lives now reduced to forensic records, sparse media coverage, or often, nothing at all. The project sits at the intersection of archaeology, anthropology, and forensic science, raising questions about how we confront death when identity is absent. It also challenges the dichotomy between what is preserved and what is lost, between what is archived and what remains hidden from view. In doing so, Left Like a Skeleton inhabits the liminal spaces between:

Presence / Absence
Preservation / Decay
Life / Death
Display / Concealment

Through material practice and site-specific engagement, Left Like a Skeleton seeks to examine remaining presence. In transforming nettles, halting decay, and making visible, I aim to make space for remembrance, care, and reparation. The piece consists of 15 archaeological small find boxes that relate directly to 15 unidentified cases in the southwest of England. They will be stacked in 3 piles (7,5,3) on a table, plinths, shelves or on the floor, ideally against a wall. The top box on each pile will be open showing the contents. In these boxes will be a small coil of nettle cordage and a photograph from sites of unidentified death.

[1] Nettles were used during the Soham investigation by forensic botanist Patricia Wiltshire https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/10/gender.uk
[2] Bergfjord, C. e. a. (2012) ‘Nettle as a distinct Bronze Age textile plant’, Scientific Reports, 2(664).