EXPLORING PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENT AND DISABILITY IN MEDIEVAL CAMBRIDGE USING ABIOMECHANICAL APPROACH
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 23/03/2021

This research explores physical impairment and disability in medieval society through the biomechanical analysis and contemporary contextualisation of skeletal trauma and musculoskeletal deformities. For this study, the human skeletal remains from the rurban parish cemetery of All Saints by the Castle (n=79), an Augustinian friary (n=38) and the hospital of St. John the Evangelist (n=209) located in Cambridge, UK, were selected for analysis. The trabecular and cortical bone architecture of individuals with complete ante-mortem fractures or musculoskeletal deformities that affected the pelvis or long bones in the lower limb were analyzed using micro-computed tomography (CT) to infer physical impairment. The data collected from these individuals was then compared to individuals without these conditions. Analysis of the CT scans revealed bilateral asymmetry and alterations in the trabecular bone in the weight-bearing skeletal elements on the side of the bone that presented with a fracture or deformity. These differences were only observed in the trabecular architecture, and no differences were identified in the cortical bone. This suggests that the analysis of trabecular bone bone may provide a more sophisticated assessment of the functional aspects of physical impairment as trabecular bone appears to respond differently to altered loading conditions than cortical bone. When incorporated with social theories and contextualised, these findings enhance our ability to reconstruct physical impairment and lived experiences during the medieval period.


Author(s): Dittmar, Jenna (McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge) - Mulder, Bram - Mitchell, Piers (Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge) - Inskip, Sarah (McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge) - Cessford, Craig (McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge; Cambridge Archaeological Unit, Department of Archaeology) - Stock, Jay (Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge; Western University) - Robb, John (Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge)