SURVIVING AMPUTATIONS AND CAREGIVING IN MEDIEVAL TIMES: A CASE OF A YOUNG WOMAN’S FEMORAL AMPUTATION
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2021-03-21

Evidence of healed limb amputations in the medieval archaeological record is scarce since many of the afflicted did not survive the hazardous surgical intervention before the introduction of advanced medical techniques. The osteological analysis of a late-medieval young adult female that was unearthed from a rural parish churchyard in Moorsel (Flanders, Belgium), revealed a healed right thigh bone, or femoral amputation. Hence, this case study provides a unique opportunity to address questions about healthcare, medical treatment, survival strategies and motivations for the amputation. What were her possibilities of playing an active role in a medieval rural community, and how would this society have acted towards people with impairments? Prior to the introduction of anaesthetics, an amputation must have been a traumatic experience for a person. In the absence of documentary sources that could shed light on the psychological state of this disabled young woman, or on the social-cultural behaviour of her community, this paper explores the osteological evidence as well as the funerary treatment alongside other rare similar cases of amputations in the (mainly) medieval archaeological dataset, and integrates the concept of the bioarchaeology of care to identify and to interpret caregiving in the past. As demonstrated by other contemporary and clinical findings, this case study could help to reshape the current preconceptions of people with disabilities in the past.


Author(s): Van Cant, Marit (Vrije Universiteit Brussel; The University of Sheffield)