Dittmar, Jenna M., Inskip, Sarah A., Rose, Alice K. orcid.org/0000-0003-1755-7174 et al. (4 more authors) (2024) Health inequality in medieval Cambridge, 1200–1500 CE. American Journal of Biological Anthropology. e24993. ISSN 2692-7691
Abstract
Health inequality is not only a major problem today; it left its mark upon past societies too. For much of the past, health inequality has been poorly studied, mostly because bioarchaeologists have concentrated upon single sites rather than a broader social landscape. This article compares 476 adults in multiple locations of medieval Cambridge (UK). Samples include ordinary townspeople (All Saints), people living in a charitable institution (the Hospital of St. John), and members of a religious order (the Augustinian Friary). These groups shared many conditions of life, such as a similar range of diseases, risk of injury, and vertebral disk degeneration. However, people living on charity had more indicators of poor childhood health and diet, lower adult stature, and a younger age at death, reflecting the health effects of poverty. In contrast, the Augustinian friars were members of a prosperous, well-endowed religious house. Compared with other groups, they were taller (perhaps a result of a richer diet during their adolescent growth period); their adult carbon and nitrogen isotope values are higher, suggesting a diet higher in terrestrial and/or marine animal protein; and they had the highest prevalence of foot problems related to fashionable late medieval footwear. As this illustrates, health inequality will take particular forms depending upon the specificities of a social landscape; except in unusual circumstances where a site and its skeletal samples represent a real cross-section of society, inequality is best investigated by comparison across sites.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). American Journal of Biological Anthropology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. |
Keywords: | friars,inequality,poor childhood environment,poverty,whole town approach |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > Archaeology (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 04 Sep 2024 10:10 |
Last Modified: | 26 Nov 2024 01:02 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24993 |
Status: | Published online |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/ajpa.24993 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:216813 |
Download
Description: American Journal of Biological Anthropology - 2024 - Dittmar - Health inequality in medieval Cambridge 1200 1500 CE
Licence: CC-BY 2.5