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The first historically documented pandemic caused by Yersinia pestis began as the Justinianic Plague in 541 within the Roman Empire and continued as the so-called First Pandemic until 750. Although paleogenomic studies have previously identified the causative agent as Y. pestis, little is known about the bacterium's spread, diversity, and genetic history over the course of the pandemic. To elucidate the microevolution of the bacterium during this time period, we screened human remains from 21 sites in Austria, Britain, Germany, France, and Spain for Y. pestis DNA and reconstructed eight genomes. We present a methodological approach assessing single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ancient bacterial genomes, facilitating qualitative analyses of low coverage genomes from a metagenomic background. Phylogenetic analysis on the eight reconstructed genomes reveals the existence of previously undocumented Y. pestis diversity during the sixth to eighth centuries, and provides evidence for the presence of multiple distinct Y. pestis strains in Europe. We offer genetic evidence for the presence of the Justinianic Plague in the British Isles, previously only hypothesized from ambiguous documentary accounts, as well as the parallel occurrence of multiple derived strains in central and southern France, Spain, and southern Germany. Four of the reported strains form a polytomy similar to others seen across the Y. pestis phylogeny, associated with the Second and Third Pandemics. We identified a deletion of a 45-kb genomic region in the most recent First Pandemic strains affecting two virulence factors, intriguingly overlapping with a deletion found in 17th- to 18th-century genomes of the Second Pandemic.
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Surtos de Doenças/história , Genoma Bacteriano , Peste/microbiologia , Yersinia pestis/genética , Europa (Continente)/epidemiologia , História Medieval , Humanos , Peste/epidemiologia , Peste/história , Yersinia pestis/patogenicidadeRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Hansen's disease (leprosy), widespread in medieval Europe, is today mainly prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions with around 200,000 new cases reported annually. Despite its long history and appearance in historical records, its origins and past dissemination patterns are still widely unknown. Applying ancient DNA approaches to its major causative agent, Mycobacterium leprae, can significantly improve our understanding of the disease's complex history. Previous studies have identified a high genetic continuity of the pathogen over the last 1500 years and the existence of at least four M. leprae lineages in some parts of Europe since the Early Medieval period. RESULTS: Here, we reconstructed 19 ancient M. leprae genomes to further investigate M. leprae's genetic variation in Europe, with a dedicated focus on bacterial genomes from previously unstudied regions (Belarus, Iberia, Russia, Scotland), from multiple sites in a single region (Cambridgeshire, England), and from two Iberian leprosaria. Overall, our data confirm the existence of similar phylogeographic patterns across Europe, including high diversity in leprosaria. Further, we identified a new genotype in Belarus. By doubling the number of complete ancient M. leprae genomes, our results improve our knowledge of the past phylogeography of M. leprae and reveal a particularly high M. leprae diversity in European medieval leprosaria. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings allow us to detect similar patterns of strain diversity across Europe with branch 3 as the most common branch and the leprosaria as centers for high diversity. The higher resolution of our phylogeny tree also refined our understanding of the interspecies transfer between red squirrels and humans pointing to a late antique/early medieval transmission. Furthermore, with our new estimates on the past population diversity of M. leprae, we gained first insights into the disease's global history in relation to major historic events such as the Roman expansion or the beginning of the regular transatlantic long distance trade. In summary, our findings highlight how studying ancient M. leprae genomes worldwide improves our understanding of leprosy's global history and can contribute to current models of M. leprae's worldwide dissemination, including interspecies transmissions.
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Mycobacterium leprae , Europa (Continente) , Genoma Bacteriano/genética , Humanos , Hanseníase/genética , Mycobacterium leprae/genética , Dinâmica PopulacionalRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To explore how medieval living conditions, occupation, and an individual's role within society impacted their risk of skeletal trauma. MATERIALS: The skeletal remains of 314 individuals from medieval Cambridge that were buried in the parish cemetery of All Saints by the Castle (n = 84), the Augustinian friary (n = 75), and the cemetery of the Hospital of St John the Evangelist (n = 155) were analyzed. METHODS: Macroscopic examination and plain radiographs were used to classify fracture type. The causative mechanisms and forces applied to a bone were inferred based on fracture morphology. RESULTS: The skeletal trauma observed represents accidental injuries, likely sustained through occupational or everyday activities, and violence. The highest prevalence rate was observed on the individuals buried at All Saints by the Castle (44%, n = 37/84), and the lowest was seen at the Hospital of St John (27%, n = 42/155). Fractures were more prevalent in males (40%, n = 57/143) than females (26%, n = 25/95). CONCLUSIONS: Skeletal trauma was highest in All Saints parish burial ground, indicating that the poor, whether working urban or rurally, had the highest risk of injury. The pattern and types of fractures observed suggests that males experienced more severe traumatic events than females. However, females that were routinely involved in manual labor were also at increased risk of injury. SIGNIFICANCE: This article enhances our understanding of how traumatic injuries differed by age, sex, and burial locations in the medieval period. FURTHER RESEARCH: Additional comparative studies in different geographical regions are needed to determine how representative these findings are.
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Fraturas Ósseas , Condições Sociais , Cemitérios , Inglaterra/epidemiologia , Feminino , Fraturas Ósseas/epidemiologia , História Medieval , Humanos , Masculino , ViolênciaRESUMO
OBJECTIVES: Trabecular structure is frequently used to differentiate between highly divergent mechanical environments. Less is known regarding the response of the structural properties to more subtle behavioral differences, as the range of intrapopulation variation in trabecular architecture is rarely studied. Examining the extent to which lower limb trabecular architecture varies when inferred mobility levels and environment are consistent between groups within a relatively homogenous population may aid in the contextualization of interpopulation differences, improve detectability of sexual dimorphism in trabecular structure, and improve our understanding of trabecular bone functional adaptation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study sample was composed of adult individuals from three high/late medieval cemeteries from Cambridge (10th-16th c.), a hospital (n = 57), a parish cemetery (n = 44) and a friary (n = 14). Trabecular architecture was quantified in the epiphyses of the femur and tibia, using high resolution computed tomography. RESULTS: The parish individuals had the lowest bone volume fraction and trabecular thickness in most regions. Multiple sex differences were observed, but the patterns were not consistent across volumes of interest. DISCUSSION: Differences between the three groups highlight the great variability of trabecular bone architecture, even within a single sedentary population. This indicates that trabecular bone may be used in interpreting subtle behavioral differences, and suggests that multiple archaeological sites need to be studied to characterize structural variation on a population level. Variation in sex and group differences across anatomical locations further demonstrates the site-specificity in trabecular bone functional adaptation, which might explain why little consistent sexual dimorphism has been reported previously.
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Variação Anatômica/fisiologia , Osso Esponjoso/anatomia & histologia , Extremidade Inferior/anatomia & histologia , Adulto , Antropologia Física , Cemitérios/história , Feminino , História Medieval , Humanos , Londres , Masculino , Caracteres Sexuais , Tomografia Computadorizada por Raios XRESUMO
In the fourth millennium BCE a cultural phenomenon of monumental burial structures spread along the Atlantic façade. Megalithic burials have been targeted for aDNA analyses, but a gap remains in East Anglia, where Neolithic structures were generally earthen or timber. An early Neolithic (3762-3648 cal. BCE) burial monument at the site of Trumpington Meadows, Cambridgeshire, UK, contained the partially articulated remains of at least three individuals. To determine whether this monument fits a pattern present in megalithic burials regarding sex bias, kinship, diet and relationship to modern populations, teeth and ribs were analysed for DNA and carbon and nitrogen isotopic values, respectively. Whole ancient genomes were sequenced from two individuals to a mean genomic coverage of 1.6 and 1.2X and genotypes imputed. Results show that they were brothers from a small population genetically and isotopically similar to previously published British Neolithic individuals, with a level of genome-wide homozygosity consistent with a small island population sourced from continental Europe, but bearing no signs of recent inbreeding. The first Neolithic whole genomes from a monumental burial in East Anglia confirm that this region was connected with the larger pattern of Neolithic megaliths in the British Isles and the Atlantic façade.
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Sepultamento/história , DNA Antigo/análise , DNA Mitocondrial/análise , Arqueologia , Inglaterra , História Antiga , Humanos , Masculino , Sequenciamento Completo do GenomaRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: Cribra orbitalia is believed to be a skeletal indicator of chronic anaemia, scurvy, rickets or related metabolic diseases. It has been suggested that it may be used as a proxy indicator for intestinal parasite infection, as parasites often cause anaemia today. Our aim is to investigate this association in the medieval population of Cambridge, UK. MATERIALS: Individuals excavated from the cemeteries of the Augustinian friary and All Saints by the Castle parish church, and aged from 7 to adulthood. METHODS: We undertook parasite analysis of the pelvic sediment and control samples of 46 burials with intact orbital roofs. RESULTS: Human roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides) and/or whipworm (Trichuris trichiura) were identified in the pelvic sediment of 22 individuals, and cribra orbitalia noted in 11 individuals. Barnards test showed no association between parasite infection and cribra orbitalia (p = .882). CONCLUSION: We found no association between infection and cribra orbitalia infection in this medieval adult population, calling into question this hypothesis, at least for adults. SIGNIFICANCE: High or low cribra orbitalia prevalence in adults should not be used to infer rates of intestinal parasite infection. LIMITATIONS: The individuals in the study were over the age of 7, with no younger children. It is possible that only parasites which cause marked anaemia (such as hookworm, schistosomiasis or malaria) may cause cribra orbitalia, while less marked anaemia from roundworm and whipworm may not do so. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Repeating this study in younger children, when most cribra orbitalia appears to form.
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Anemia , Enteropatias Parasitárias , Raquitismo , Adulto , Criança , Humanos , Órbita , Reino UnidoRESUMO
Leprosy, one of the oldest recorded diseases in human history, remains prevalent in Asia, Africa, and South America, with over 200,000 cases every year.1,2 Although ancient DNA (aDNA) approaches on the major causative agent, Mycobacterium leprae, have elucidated the disease's evolutionary history,3,4,5 the role of animal hosts and interspecies transmission in the past remains unexplored. Research has uncovered relationships between medieval strains isolated from archaeological human remains and modern animal hosts such as the red squirrel in England.6,7 However, the time frame, distribution, and direction of transmissions remains unknown. Here, we studied 25 human and 12 squirrel samples from two archaeological sites in Winchester, a medieval English city well known for its leprosarium and connections to the fur trade. We reconstructed four medieval M. leprae genomes, including one from a red squirrel, at a 2.2-fold average coverage. Our analysis revealed a phylogenetic placement of all strains on branch 3 as well as a close relationship between the squirrel strain and one newly reconstructed medieval human strain. In particular, the medieval squirrel strain is more closely related to some medieval human strains from Winchester than to modern red squirrel strains from England, indicating a yet-undetected circulation of M. leprae in non-human hosts in the Middle Ages. Our study represents the first One Health approach for M. leprae in archaeology, which is centered around a medieval animal host strain, and highlights the future capability of such approaches to understand the disease's zoonotic past and current potential.
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Genoma Bacteriano , Hanseníase , Mycobacterium leprae , Filogenia , Sciuridae , Animais , Mycobacterium leprae/genética , Mycobacterium leprae/isolamento & purificação , Sciuridae/microbiologia , Hanseníase/microbiologia , Hanseníase/história , Humanos , Inglaterra , DNA Antigo/análise , Arqueologia , História MedievalRESUMO
The extent of the devastation of the Black Death pandemic (1346-1353) on European populations is known from documentary sources and its bacterial source illuminated by studies of ancient pathogen DNA. What has remained less understood is the effect of the pandemic on human mobility and genetic diversity at the local scale. Here, we report 275 ancient genomes, including 109 with coverage >0.1×, from later medieval and postmedieval Cambridgeshire of individuals buried before and after the Black Death. Consistent with the function of the institutions, we found a lack of close relatives among the friars and the inmates of the hospital in contrast to their abundance in general urban and rural parish communities. While we detect long-term shifts in local genetic ancestry in Cambridgeshire, we find no evidence of major changes in genetic ancestry nor higher differentiation of immune loci between cohorts living before and after the Black Death.
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Peste , Humanos , Peste/genética , Peste/história , Peste/microbiologia , História MedievalRESUMO
This research explores how the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) in a medieval hospital was affected by the demographic and social changes that following the Black Death (1346-1353 CE), the initial years of the Second Plague Pandemic. To do this, skeletal remains of individuals buried at the Hospital of St John the Evangelist in Cambridge, England, that could be dated to living before (n = 77) or after (n = 55) the Black Death were assessed for evidence of TB (indicated by destructive lesions of the spine, ribs, large joints, and other recognised criteria). Overall, the odds of females having skeletal lesions caused by TB were over four times higher than males. No significant difference was detected in the prevalence rates in those who lived before and after the Black Death (7.8%, 6/77 before and 11.0%, 6/55 after). However, the odds of females having skeletal evidence of TB were over five times greater after the Black Death than they were before. These findings indicate that women may have been 1) more susceptible to TB, 2) surviving longer post-infection than men, and/or 3) that women with TB were more likely to be admitted to the Hospital especially following the Black Death. It is also possible that impairment due to TB infection may have been a contributing factor for entry into the Hospital for women but not men.
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Mycobacterium tuberculosis , Peste , Tuberculose , Masculino , Humanos , Feminino , Peste/epidemiologia , Peste/história , Tuberculose/história , Inglaterra/epidemiologia , HospitaisRESUMO
Metabolomic approaches, such as in clinical applications of living individuals, have shown potential use for solving questions regarding the past when applied to archaeological material. Here, we study for the first time the potential of this Omic approach as applied to metabolites extracted from archaeological human dentin. Dentin obtained from micro sampling the dental pulp of teeth of victims and non-victims of Yersinia pestis (plague) from a 6th century Cambridgeshire site are used to evaluate the potential use of such unique material for untargeted metabolomic studies on disease state through liquid chromatography hyphenated to high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS). Results show that small molecules of both likely endogenous and exogenous sources are preserved for a range of polar and less polar/apolar metabolites in archaeological dentin; however, untargeted metabolomic profiles show no clear differentiation between healthy and infected individuals in the small sample analysed (n = 20). This study discusses the potential of dentin as a source of small molecules for metabolomic assays and highlights: (1) the need for follow up research to optimise sampling protocols, (2) the requirements of studies with larger sample numbers and (3) the necessity of more databases to amplify the positive results achievable with this Omic technique in the archaeological sciences.
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OBJECTIVE: To combine paleopathological and biomechanical analysis to reconstruct the impact that a severe skeletal injury had on an individual's ability to function and participate in medieval society. MATERIALS: Three medieval individuals from Cambridge, England with ante-mortem fractures to the lower limb were analyzed. METHODS: Plain X-rays were used to determine the degree of malunion, rotation and overlap of each fracture. Cortical bone architecture of the injured individuals and 28 uninjured controls were analyzed using micro-computed tomography (µCT). Clinical and functional consequences were examined using the Bioarcheology of Care framework. RESULTS: The mechanism of injury, the secondary complications, and the extent of the care received was reconstructed for each individual. Bilateral asymmetry in the cortical bone architecture revealed the long-term alterations to each individual's gait. CONCLUSION: Each of these individuals survived a severe injury resulting in chronic physical impairment, though not all would have been considered 'disabled'. SIGNIFICANCE: This research contributes to the discussion about medieval care provision and social constructions of disability by illustrating how an interdisciplinary approach provides insight into the experiences of those with physical impairments. The integration of µCT imaging within the Bioarcheology of Care model is a novel approach with great potential for application across the field. LIMITATIONS: Biomechanical analysis was restricted to cortical geometry. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH: Further study of bilateral asymmetry in trabecular architecture could complement our understanding of altered loading modalities in past societies.
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Pessoas com Deficiência , Fraturas Ósseas , Humanos , Microtomografia por Raio-X , Inglaterra , Osso e OssosRESUMO
Metabolomics is a modern tool that aids in our understanding of the molecular changes in organisms. Archaeological science is a branch of archaeology that explores different archaeological materials using modern analytical tools. Human osteoarchaeological material are a frequent finding in archaeological contexts and have the potential to offer information about previous human populations, which can be illuminating about our current condition. Using a set of samples comprising different skeletal elements and bone structures, here we explore for the first time the possibility of extracting metabolites from osteoarchaeological material. Here, a protocol for extraction and measurement of extracted polar and less-polar/apolar metabolites by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography hyphenated to high resolution mass spectrometry is presented to measure the molecules separated after a reversed phase and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography column. Molecular information was obtained, showing that osteoarchaeological material is a viable source of molecular information for metabolomic studies.
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Metabolômica , Humanos , Cromatografia Líquida/métodos , Cromatografia Líquida de Alta Pressão/métodos , Metabolômica/métodos , Espectrometria de Massas/métodos , Interações Hidrofóbicas e HidrofílicasRESUMO
BACKGROUND: The human pathogen Haemophilus influenzae was the main cause of bacterial meningitis in children and a major cause of worldwide infant mortality before the introduction of a vaccine in the 1980s. Although the occurrence of serotype b (Hib), the most virulent type of H. influenzae, has since decreased, reports of infections with other serotypes and non-typeable strains are on the rise. While non-typeable strains have been studied in-depth, very little is known of the pathogen's evolutionary history, and no genomes dating prior to 1940 were available. RESULTS: We describe a Hib genome isolated from a 6-year-old Anglo-Saxon plague victim, from approximately 540 to 550 CE, Edix Hill, England, showing signs of invasive infection on its skeleton. We find that the genome clusters in phylogenetic division II with Hib strain NCTC8468, which also caused invasive disease. While the virulence profile of our genome was distinct, its genomic similarity to NCTC8468 points to mostly clonal evolution of the clade since the 6th century. We also reconstruct a partial Yersinia pestis genome, which is likely identical to a published first plague pandemic genome of Edix Hill. CONCLUSIONS: Our study presents the earliest genomic evidence for H. influenzae, points to the potential presence of larger genomic diversity in the phylogenetic division II serotype b clade in the past, and allows the first insights into the evolutionary history of this major human pathogen. The identification of both plague and Hib opens questions on the effect of plague in immunocompromised individuals already affected by infectious diseases.
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Vacinas Anti-Haemophilus , Peste , Criança , Haemophilus influenzae/genética , Humanos , Lactente , Filogenia , SorogrupoRESUMO
Dental calculus preserves oral microbes, enabling comparative studies of the oral microbiome and health through time. However, small sample sizes and limited dental health metadata have hindered health-focused investigations to date. Here, we investigate the relationship between tobacco pipe smoking and dental calculus microbiomes. Dental calculus from 75 individuals from the 19th century Middenbeemster skeletal collection (Netherlands) were analyzed by metagenomics. Demographic and dental health parameters were systematically recorded, including the presence/number of pipe notches. Comparative data sets from European populations before and after the introduction of tobacco were also analyzed. Calculus species profiles were compared with oral pathology to examine associations between microbiome community, smoking behavior, and oral health status. The Middenbeemster individuals exhibited relatively poor oral health, with a high prevalence of periodontal disease, caries, heavy calculus deposits, and antemortem tooth loss. No associations between pipe notches and dental pathologies, or microbial species composition, were found. Calculus samples before and after the introduction of tobacco showed highly similar species profiles. Observed interindividual microbiome differences were consistent with previously described variation in human populations from the Upper Paleolithic to the present. Dental calculus may not preserve microbial indicators of health and disease status as distinctly as dental plaque.
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Human herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), a life-long infection spread by oral contact, infects a majority of adults globally. Phylogeographic clustering of sampled diversity into European, pan-Eurasian, and African groups has suggested the virus codiverged with human migrations out of Africa, although a much younger origin has also been proposed. We present three full ancient European HSV-1 genomes and one partial genome, dating from the 3rd to 17th century CE, sequenced to up to 9.5× with paired human genomes up to 10.16×. Considering a dataset of modern and ancient genomes, we apply phylogenetic methods to estimate the age of sampled modern Eurasian HSV-1 diversity to 4.68 (3.87 to 5.65) ka. Extrapolation of estimated rates to a global dataset points to the age of extant sampled HSV-1 as 5.29 (4.60 to 6.12) ka, suggesting HSV-1 lineage replacement coinciding with the late Neolithic period and following Bronze Age migrations.
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OBJECTIVE: Hallux valgus, the lateral deviation of the great toe, can result in poor balance, impaired mobility and is an independent risk factor for falls. This research aims to compare the prevalence of hallux valgus in subpopulations of medieval Cambridge, England, and to examine the relationship between hallux valgus and fractures to examine the impact of impaired mobility and poor balance caused by this condition. MATERIALS: 177 adult individuals from four cemeteries located in Cambridge, England. METHODS: Human remains were macroscopically and radiographically assessed. RESULTS: Hallux valgus was identified in 18 % of individuals and was significantly more common during the 14th-15th centuries than the 11th-13th centuries. The highest prevalence was observed in the friary (43 %), followed by the Hospital (23 %), the rurban parish cemetery (10 %), and the rural parish cemetery (3%). Fractures from falls were significantly more common in those with hallux valgus than those without. CONCLUSION: The increased prevalence of hallux valgus identified in individuals from the 14th to 15th centuries coincided with the adoption of new footwear with pointed toes. Those that adopted this fashion trend appear to have been more likely to develop balance and mobility problems that resulted in an increased risk of falls. SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first study to explore the relationship between foot problems and functional ability by studying hallux valgus in archaeological assemblages. LIMITATIONS: Falls are complex and determining the mechanism of injury in human skeletal remains is not always possible. FURTHER RESEARCH: Fracture prevalence rates may have been affected by biological factors and underlying pathological conditions.
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Fraturas Ósseas , Hallux Valgus , Adulto , Cemitérios , Hallux Valgus/epidemiologia , Humanos , Fatores de RiscoRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To identify the major health problems of the Middle Ages. Bubonic plague is often considered the greatest health disaster in medieval history, but this has never been systematically investigated. MATERIALS: We triangulate upon the problem using (i) modern WHO data on disease in the modern developing world, (ii) historical evidence for England such as post-medieval Bills of Mortality, and (iii) prevalences derived from original and published palaeopathological studies. METHODS: Systematic analysis of the consequences of these health conditions using Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) according to the Global Burden of Disease methodology. RESULTS: Infant and child death due to varied causes had the greatest impact upon population and health, followed by a range of chronic/infectious diseases, with tuberculosis probably being the next most significant one. CONCLUSIONS: Among medieval health problems, we estimate that plague was probably 7th-10th in overall importance. Although lethal and disruptive, it struck only periodically and had less cumulative long-term human consequences than chronically endemic conditions (e.g. bacterial and viral infections causing infant and child death, tuberculosis, and other pathogens). SIGNIFICANCE: In contrast to modern health regimes, medieval health was above all an ecological struggle against a diverse host of infectious pathogens; social inequality was probably also an important contributing factor. LIMITATIONS: Methodological assumptions and use of proxy data mean that only approximate modelling of prevalences is possible. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Progress in understanding medieval health really depends upon understanding ancient infectious disease through further development of biomolecular methods.
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Pessoas com Deficiência , Peste , Criança , Efeitos Psicossociais da Doença , Inglaterra/epidemiologia , Humanos , Lactente , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Peste/epidemiologia , Anos de Vida Ajustados por Qualidade de VidaRESUMO
Hansen's disease (leprosy), mainly caused by infection with Mycobacterium leprae, has accompanied humanity for thousands of years. Although currently rare in Europe, there are over 200,000 new infections annually in South East Asia, Africa, and South America. Over the years many disciplines - palaeopathology, ancient DNA and other ancient biomolecules, and history - have contributed to a better understanding of leprosy's past, in particular its history in medieval Europe. We discuss their contributions and potential, especially in relation to the role of inter-species transmission, an unexplored phenomenon in the disease's history. Here, we explore the potential of interdisciplinary approaches that understand disease as a biosocial phenomenon, which is a product of both infection with M. leprae and social behaviours that facilitate transmission and spread. Genetic evidence of M. leprae isolated from archaeological remains combined with systematic zooarchaeological and historical analysis would not only identify when and in what direction transmission occurred, but also key social behaviours and motivations that brought species together. In our opinion, this combination is crucial to understand the disease's zoonotic past and current potential.
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OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence rate of gout and to explore the social factors that contributed to its development in the various sub-populations in medieval Cambridge. MATERIALS: 177 adult individuals from four medieval cemeteries located in and around Cambridge, UK. METHODS: Lesions were assessed macroscopically and radiographically. Elements with lytic lesions were described and imaged using micro-computed tomography (µCT) to determine their morphology. RESULTS: Gout was identified in 3 % of the population. Individuals buried in the friary had highest prevalence (14 %), with low prevalence rates in the Hospital (3 %) and town parish cemetery (2 %), with no cases in the rural parish cemetery. Gout was more prevalent during the 14th-15th centuries than the 10th-13th centuries. CONCLUSION: The high prevalence rate of gout in the friary is at least partly explained by the consumption of alcohol and purine-rich diets by the friars and the wealthy townsfolk. Medieval medical texts from Cambridge show that gout (known as podagra) was sometimes treated with medications made from the root of the autumn crocus. This root contains colchicine, which is a medicine that is still used to treat gout today. SIGNIFICANCE: This is one of the first studies to assess the epidemiology of gout in medieval England and suggests that gout varied with social status. LIMITATIONS: Our sample size precludes statistical analysis. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Additional studies that assess the epidemiology of gout in medieval Europe is needed in order to be able to fully contextualize these findings.
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Doenças Ósseas , Gota , Adulto , Cemitérios , Inglaterra/epidemiologia , Gota/epidemiologia , Humanos , Microtomografia por Raio-XRESUMO
What is osteobiography good for? The last generation of archaeologists fought to overcome the traditional assumption that archaeology is merely ancillary to history, a substitute to be used when written sources are defective; it is now widely acknowledged that material histories and textual histories tell equally valid and complementary stories about the past. Yet the traditional assumption hangs on implicitly in biography: osteobiography is used to fill the gaps in the textual record rather than as a primary source in its own right. In this article we compare the textual biographies and material biographies of two thirteenth-century townsfolk from medieval England-Robert Curteis, attested in legal records, and "Feature 958," excavated archaeologically and studied osteobiographically. As the former shows, textual biographies of ordinary people mostly reveal a few traces of financial or legal transactions. Interpreting these traces, in fact, implicitly presumes a history of the body. Osteobiography reveals a different kind of history, the history of the body as a locus of appearance and social identity, work, health and experience. For all but a few textually rich individuals, osteobiography provides a fuller and more human biography. Moreover, textual visibility is deeply biased by class and gender; osteobiography offers particular promise for Marxist and feminist understandings of the past.