Multidisciplinary investigations of the diets of two post-medieval populations from London using stable isotopes and microdebris analysis.

This paper presents the first multi-tissue study of diet in post-medieval London using both the stable light isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen and analysis of microdebris in dental calculus. Dietary intake was explored over short and long timescales. Bulk bone collagen was analysed from humans from the Queen's Chapel of the Savoy (QCS) (n = 66) and the St Barnabas/St Mary Abbots (SB) (n = 25). Incremental dentine analysis was performed on the second molar of individual QCS1123 to explore childhood dietary intake. Bulk hair samples (n = 4) were sampled from adults from QCS, and dental calculus was analysed from four other individuals using microscopy. In addition, bone collagen from a total of 46 animals from QCS (n = 11) and the additional site of Prescot Street (n = 35) was analysed, providing the first animal dietary baseline for post-medieval London. Overall, isotopic results suggest a largely C3-based terrestrial diet for both populations, with the exception of QCS1123 who exhibited values consistent with the consumption of C4 food sources throughout childhood and adulthood. The differences exhibited in δ15Ncoll across both populations likely reflect variations in diet due to social class and occupation, with individuals from SB likely representing wealthier individuals consuming larger quantities of animal and marine fish protein. Microdebris analysis results were limited but indicate the consumption of domestic cereals. This paper demonstrates the utility of a multidisciplinary approach to investigate diet across long and short timescales to further our understanding of variations in social status and mobility.

Case report: A giant calcified uterus, likely due to benign leiomyoma.

During the 2011 excavation of the site of St. Michael's Litten, in Chichester, England, a female skeleton, dating to the post-Medieval period (1550-1850), with a large, unidentified pelvic mass was uncovered. The mass measured 16.4H×19.0W×24.3L and was 66cm in its greatest circumference; it weighed 3.32kg. The skeleton presented with established osteoporosis and was estimated to be of an advanced age. The analytic methodology used to evaluate the mass was based on that of Kramar et al. (1983). Considering the results of these analyses, and through an extensive search of the relevant medical, historical and archaeological literature, it was determined that this mass was likely a neoplasm of reproductive origin, and was further defined as a calcified uterus containing a number of leiomyomas. To date, this is the largest of its kind ever found archaeologically.