Jaime Jennings (University of Durham)

Recent studies in anthropology, history, and medicine suggest psychological and nutritional stresses caused by living in a region of socio-political conflict are associated with nutritional deficiencies, increased mortality rates, and decreased general health of local residents. Historical documents from the Late-Medieval period in Britain describe the creation of a contested international border through the former kingdom of Northumbria as an era of political instability, military conflict, such as the ‘Harrying of the North’, and border reiving. If these historical records are accurate, similar modern trends of nutritional deficiencies and increased mortality rates should be demonstrable in border archaeological populations.

The objective of this study is to create a macroscopic osteological description of conflict-zone health which can be observed in archaeological skeletal populations. The hypothesis is tested by comparing the demographic and palaeopathological profiles of Medieval (ca. 900 – 1600 AD) skeletons from northern English and southern Scottish border populations with their contemporary neighbours. Data used in this study was macroscopically collected from both border and neighbouring skeletal samples and included estimated age at death, sex, stature, body mass, dental disease, indicators of non-specific infections, and nutritional deficiencies.

Results of this direct comparison show a difference in palaeopathological profiles between conflict-zone populations and their neighbours. Although similar demographic profiles were observed throughout the time-period, differences in infection rates and childhood nutritional deficiencies increased through time. These data suggest populations must be exposed to acute socio-political stress during their skeletal development, or chronically during their adult life, to be detected in the archaeological record. This study highlights the need for multidisciplinary approaches to the analysis of human skeletal remains to fully describe the possible experiences of past populations.