Inequality in medieval Cambridge was recorded on the bones of the residents

Social inequality has been “recorded on the bones” of medieval Cambridge residents, according to a new study of hundreds of human remains excavated from three very different burial sites in the historic city center.

Cambridge University researchers examined the remains of 314 people dating back to the 10th to 14th centuries and gathered evidence of “skeletal trauma” – a barometer for surviving complications.

Bones were found from across the social spectrum: a parish cemetery for ordinary workers, a charitable “hospital” where the destitute and the destitute were buried, and an Augustinian monastery buried by wealthy donors alongside clergy.

Researchers carefully cataloged the nature of each break and break to take a picture of the physical distress visited by villagers by accident, occupational injury or violence in their daily lives.

Using x-ray analysis, the team found that 44% of working people had a bone fracture, compared to 32% of those in the monastery and 27% of those buried by the hospital . Fractures were more common in male remains (40%) than females (26%) across all burials.

The team also found notable issues, such as friar resembling a modern victim and life-threatening bones affected by violence. The results are published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

“By comparing the skeletal trauma of a relic buried in a number of places within a city such as Cambridge, we can quantify the dangers of everyday life with different spheres of medieval society. , “said Dr Jenna Dittmar, lead study author from the University ‘s Department of Archeology’ s After the Plague project.

“We see that there was a higher risk of injuries from normal working people compared to the more sheltered monks and supporters or hospital residents,” she said.

“These were people who spent their days working long hours doing heavy manual labor. In the city, people worked in trades and crafts such as masonry and blacksmithing, or as general workers. out in the city, many spent the morning in the twilight doing bone-grinding work in the fields or watching cattle. ”

The University was pioneering at this time – the first academic movements that took place around 1209 – and Cambridge was largely a regional city of artisans, merchants and farmers, with a population of 2500-4000 by mid-term. the 13th century.

While the working people may have had very poor physical work compared to the richer people and those in religious institutions, medieval life was generally difficult. In fact, the most serious injury was found on a friar, thus identified by its burial place and belt buckle.

“The friar had complete fractures halfway up both of his femurs,” Dittmar said. Am femur [thigh bone] the largest bone in the body. “Anything that caused both bones to break in this way must be painful, and that may be the cause of death.”

Dittmar says today ‘s clinicians would be familiar with such injuries from those that hit cars – it’s the right height. “The best we have is a car accident. A horse may have been spat and hit by the vehicle.”

Other people were also injured. Another friar had been living with a protective fracture on his arm and signs of blunt force pressure on his skull. Such skeletal injuries related to violence were found in approximately 4% of the population, including women and people from all social groups.

One older woman buried on parish land appeared to indicate lifelong abuse. “She had many fractures, they were all well healed before she died. Several of her ribs were broken as well as multiple vertebrae, her jaws and her leg,” Dittmar said.

“It would be very rare for all of these injuries to occur as a result of a fall, for example. Today, most fractured jaws seen in women are caused by intimate joint violence. partner. “

Of the three sites, the smallest fractures were at St. John the Evangelist Hospital. Founded in the late 12th century, it housed the chosen residents of Cambridge, providing food and spiritual care. Many medical conditions such as tuberculosis had skeletal evidence, and would not be able to function.

Although most of the remainder were “residents”, there were also “corrodians” on the site: retired locals who paid for the benefit of staying in hospital, like today’s old age care home.

The Hospital was disbanded to form St. John’s College in 1511, and was excavated by the Cambridge Archeology Unit (CAU), part of the University, in 2010 when the College’s Theological School building was renovated.

The CAU excavated the Augustinian Monastery in 2016 as part of construction work on the University’s New Museums Site. According to records, the monastery was granted rights to bury members of the Augustinian order in 1290, and non-members in 1302 – allowing wealthy patrons to plot in the monastery grounds.

The monastery operated until 1538, when King Henry VIII took away the monasteries of the country from their income and possessions to fortify the Crown’s coffins.

The parish of All Saints next to the Castle, north of the River Cam, appears to have been founded in the 10th century and was in use until 1365, when it merged with a nearby parish after local numbers declined. after the pandemic of the plague of Black Death.

Although the church itself was never discovered, the cemetery – next to what is now known as Castle Hill – was first excavated in the 1970s. Remains were inside the University’s Duckworth Collection, allowing researchers to revisit these finds for the most recent study.

“Those buried in All Saints were among the poorest in the city, and were clearly more vulnerable to accidental injuries,” Dittmar said. “At the time, the graveyard was in the background where urban dwellers met. Men may have been working in the fields with heavy plows pulled by horses or oxen, or loaded stone blocks and wooden beams. at home.

“Many of the women in All Saints may have done hard physical work such as looking after livestock and helping with harvesting in addition to their domestic responsibilities.

“We see this inequality documented on the bones of medieval Cambridge residents. However, there was a real common problem across the social spectrum. Life was harder at the bottom – but life was difficult throughout.”

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