A Comparative Study of Vertebral Pathologies and Anomalies in Two Medieval British Populations (original) (raw)

A holistic approach to palaeopathological studies using historical documentation and clinical, archaeological and epidemiological literature can provide important information as to the health, lifestyles, socioeconomic and occupational status of individuals from the past. Applying this approach, the study provides an overview and comparative analysis of the spinal health of two contemporaneous British skeletal samples from the medieval period; St Owen’s Cemetery, an urban based population from Gloucester (n=68) and Poulton a rural, agrarian community from Cheshire (n=70). Sex and age at death were estimated using a variety of osteological techniques and descriptive statistics and Chi-square statistical tests were computed to identify and assess inter- and intra-population differences. Although some significant differences were observed, both skeletal samples had similar types and anatomical locations of the pathological conditions observed. St Owen’s Cemetery exhibits higher frequen...