Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about interesting discoveries, scientific advances, and more.
CNN
—
Scientists used the remains of around 500 people to create a series of “bone biographies” that offer a glimpse into the daily lives of plague survivors in the British city of Cambridge.
The bones came from a series of archaeological excavations that began in the 1970s and date back to between 1000 and 1500.
During the Middle Ages, Cambridge was home to several thousand people. According to research, the bubonic plague, known as the Black Death, arrived in the city between 1348 and 1349, killing between 40% and 60% of the population.
Archaeologists used radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis to study the bones of townspeople, scholars, monks, and merchants, ultimately focusing on 16 people and determining their DNA, physical trauma, activities, and diet. to paint a more complete picture of their existence. bones biography.The findings are published in a study published Thursday in the journal ancient.
“Bone biography uses all available evidence to reconstruct the life of an ancient person,” the study’s lead author, John Robb, a professor at the University of Cambridge, said in a statement. “Our team used techniques familiar from studies such as the skeleton of Richard III, but this time to uncover unknown details of people’s lives we would never know otherwise. I used it.”
Mark Gridley/After the Plague
The diagram shows a typical market in medieval Cambridge.
A biography of Bones is available on the University of Cambridge website. After the Plague project website.
“The importance of using bone biographies for ordinary people, rather than the elites recorded in historical sources, is that we know the least about them, even though they represent the majority of the population.” people,” said study co-author, researcher and osteoarchaeologist Sarah Inskip, Ph.D. she said in her statement at the University of Leicester.
The five-year ‘After the Plague’ project, which began in 2016, focused on burial research at Cambridge’s St John the Evangelist Hospital, the medieval All Saints Parish Church by the castle, and Augustinian Abbey. These bones tell a collective story about a cross-section of people who lived in medieval Cambridge and the hardships they faced.
Researchers gave the subjects pseudonyms based on records from the time.
“Death and Time guarantees the anonymity of our sources, but we wanted them to feel relatable,” Robb said.
Bone biographies provide a window into the lives of people such as: AnnA woman staggers around on her right leg, which has become short due to repeated injuries. Eudesa square-jawed monk who enjoyed a rich diet but suffered from gout.
The bones also tell an amazing story: edmund, who had leprosy but may not have been diagnosed and was not expelled. He lived among the common people until he was buried not in a simple burial cloth, but in an unusual wooden coffin.And there was watthe survived the plague and died as an elderly man from cancer.
Watt was a resident of St. John’s Hospital, a charity established to house the poor and vulnerable as a type of medieval welfare system.
“Like any medieval town, Cambridge was a sea of need,” Robb said. “Some of the unlucky poor people ended up staying in hospitals for the rest of their lives. Selection criteria would have been a combination of material deprivation, local politics, and spiritual merit.”
Up to a dozen people stayed at the hospital at a time, sometimes for years. This hospital was founded in 1195 and lasted for several hundred years until it was replaced by St. John’s College in 1511. The hospital was established to help the poor rather than provide medical care, but by law it was unable to admit people it could not care for with its limited staff. For ourselves.
Mark Gridley/After the Plague
This illustration depicts Watt, who survived the Black Death and died as an elderly man from cancer.
“We know that lepers, pregnant women and the insane are prohibited, while piety is mandatory,” Robb said. Robb said hospital residents were required to pray for the souls of their benefactors. “The hospital was a factory of prayer.”
Many of the remains belonged to local residents from Cambridge and surrounding villages, but the three people buried in the hospital cemetery are believed to have traveled long distances to reach the city.One of them was a woman named Christiana.
Chemical analysis of her bones suggests she came from as far away as Norway. Researchers are not sure why she came to Cambridge as a young girl, but it was probably a short trip involving trade, a trip with a merchant family, or a trip to Cambridge, one of Britain’s largest trade fairs, which takes place each year. It is likely that they were there to attend the Tauerbridge Fair. Located on the outskirts of the city.
At some point during her visit, Christiana passed away. Although her bones reveal no injuries or severe chronic illness, she may have died from a rapid infection.
The hospital did not accept short-term medical admissions, but Christiana was buried in a consecrated area of the cemetery as part of her charity work, the project said.
By analyzing each skeleton, researchers were able to gain insight into the diets of Cambridge residents, the physical toll of daily life, and the illnesses and injuries they endured. Bones revealed how tough life can be.
For example, half of the people buried at All Saints Cemetery did not survive childhood. The children buried in the hospital cemetery were also small for their age and showed signs of anemia, injuries, and illnesses such as tuberculosis.
after the plague
This skull belonged to Dickon, who died of the plague.
The hospital’s residents bear the scars of a harsh childhood shaped by hunger and rampant disease. However, we find that the situation often changes once they begin their stay in hospital, and that they are provided with a balanced and nutritious diet, and many are able to improve in later life. Ta.
It can take years for changes in diet to be reflected in the bones, so after analysis some residents said: Maria, may have lived there for 5 to 10 years. Maria experienced the disease from an early age, and it is believed that she died of tuberculosis between the ages of 18 and 25.
Things were different for the men of the Augustinian monastery. They were on average an inch taller than the townspeople and enjoyed a diet rich in meat and fish.
Study of the arm bones also revealed a group of early university scholars buried in the hospital cemetery. The townspeople all had strongly developed right arms, reflecting their physical labor, but the skeletons of ten men stood out.
“These men did not habitually do manual labor or crafts, and usually lived well into old age with adequate nutrition. Perhaps they were early academics at Cambridge University. “, Robb said. “University clergy did not have the novice-to-grave support that monastic clergy had. Most academics were supported by family money, income from teaching, or charitable patronage. Less well-to-do scholars were at risk of poverty when disease and infirmity were widespread. As the university grew, more scholars would end up in the hospital graveyard.”
cambridge archaeological unit
Members of the Cambridge Archeology Unit working on excavations at St John’s Hospital in 2010.
Some of the skeletons belonged to people who did not survive the plague. Dickon, died between the ages of 45 and 60. After falling ill, he probably only lived a few days and took shelter in his home before dying of the Black Death. But the people who cared for him made sure he was properly buried in a local church cemetery, according to the project.
Although the Black Death caused thousands of deaths, it was not the greatest threat, the study authors said. Chronic infectious diseases such as tuberculosis affected people throughout Europe.
“Everyday diseases such as measles, whooping cough and gastrointestinal infections ultimately took a much greater toll on medieval people,” Robb said.