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A brother run over by a cart, another victim of a bandit attack: it sounds like the plot of a medieval mystery. But according to new research, these are some of the possible woes that have occurred in centuries past.
Analysis of the bones of 314 people aged 12 or older, dating from around 1,100 to the 1530s, and found at three different sites in Cambridge, reveals that bone fractures were common among those buried in a parish cemetery – where many ordinary workers would have been put to rest. But the team also found evidence of gruesome injuries among those buried in an Augustinian convent, suggesting the clergy were not protected from violent events.
“Medieval life was difficult for everyone,” said Dr Jenna Dittmar, lead author of the study at the University of Cambridge.
Writing in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Dittmar and his colleagues report how they analyzed previously excavated medieval bones dating from the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. While she said not all of the bones at the three sites have been excavated and analyzed, those examined so far provide insight into different spheres of society.
“[Our results] are going to be fairly representative because we have a parish cemetery, we have a hospital and we also have an Augustinian convent, ”she said.
The team found that bone fractures were the most common among those buried in the parish cemetery, with 44% of the skeletons analyzed showing signs of such damage, compared to 32% of those buried in the brood. Multiple fractures were also the most common among those buried at the parish cemetery.
“The people who were buried in the All Saints parish cemetery would have led very difficult lives,” said Dittmar, noting that many were ordinary people who would have had manual jobs, from farm work to builders. On the other hand, those who are buried in the convent would have either led a clerical life, or were rich benefactors.
While these injuries were more common in men, some women have also shown them. “[One] the poor woman had a broken jaw at one point in her life, and she healed … but she also had a number of other injuries, including broken ribs and [a] foot, ”Dittmar said – although she said it’s unclear whether the injuries were from an event. While the broken jaw could be from a fall, there are other possibilities, Dittmar said: In modern times, women typically have a broken jaw as a result of domestic violence.
Only 27% of people searched at Saint-Jean-l’Évangéliste hospital had signs of bone fractures – although one man appears to have fractured his knee in a fall.
“People would assume that a hospital is a place where sick, poor or infirm people go, and they would be expected to have more fractures – which turned out not to be the case,” he said. said Dittmar.
Dittmar said the hospital was more focused on pastoral care. “The concept of a medieval hospital takes a bit of getting used to in modern times,” she said, noting that many people in the hospital would have been poor, old and suffering from chronic illnesses such as than tuberculosis.
Another surprise, Dittmar said, was that there was no evidence of gun-related injuries, healed or not, among the dead – although wars were common in medieval times.
But that didn’t mean the violence was unknown: indeed, the team reported that the remains of a brother who survived what Dittmar said could, among other explanations, have been a bandit attack, with signs that he was hit on the head with a blunt object.
“He could have banged his head on something,” Dittmar said. “[But] he also has a broken arm, which is a defensive injury, which suggests he raised his arm for protection. “
Another monk was not so lucky: his skeleton showed a broken neck and legs – with a possibility that he was run over by a cart.
“The injuries he has are the most similar to what people get when they are hit by the car, roughly in the thighs,” said Dittmar. “We think it’s safe to say that he probably died of a serious accident in which he was involved.
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