Exploring total fertility rates and potential sample bias in the Early Medieval Period: Worthy Park, Kingsworthy

• Fertility estimated for the Worthy Park skeletal sample ranges from 4.328 to 7.156. • Fertility estimates and range indicate likely under-representation of pre-adults. • Underenumeration of older adults in the skeletal sample is also possible. • Contemporary Anglo-Saxon population likely yielded higher agricultural resources. Previous applications of empirical palaeodemographic methods on Early Medieval English skeletal samples are minimal, likely due to factors including demographic sample bias. Recent improvements to palaeodemographic estimations, however, have focused on ways in which some biased samples can still be meaningfully investigated. This study incorporates the D0-14/D and D15-49/D15+ models for estimating fertility and to also detect possible underenumeration of age cohorts in a skeletal sample. The early Anglo-Saxon skeletal sample Worthy Park, Kingsworthy is used for this demonstration, as the representative nature of the population sample is already questioned. Results indicate that the Early Medieval people represented within this sample are estimated to have a moderate to high fertility rate (4.328–7.156) over the 200-years of cemetery use. The results also confirm likely demographic under-representation within the sample; with the pre-adult age-at-death cohort (i.e. 0–14 years) most affected. Through stepped manipulation of the age-at-death distribution, it is hypothesised that there is also under-representation of older adults (50+ years) in the sample. The archaeological context of Early Medieval England is also considered alongside these results, with evidence to suggest that the local Anglo-Saxon settlement, who primarily used the Worthy Park cemetery, may have seen more higher-yield agricultural practices earlier than other regions, or at least the demographic effects of immigration. This article provides an in-depth case study, demonstrating the use of how co-ordinating fertility models and pre-existing archaeological context can further strengthen the palaeodemographic assessment of skeletal samples despite possible under-representation.