Excavations in 2010 uncovered the remains of many people buried in the cemetery of St. John's Hospital of the Evangelist.
Scientists have created a series of "skeletal biographies" from the remains of about 500 people, offering a glimpse into the daily lives of plague survivors in Cambridge, England.
The skeletons come from a series of archaeological excavations that began in the 70s of the 20th century and date back to between 1000 and 1500.
During the Middle Ages, Cambridge was home to thousands of people. According to the study, the Black Death came to the city between 1348 and 1349 and caused the death of between 40% and 60% of the population.
Archaeologists used radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis to study the bones of townspeople, scholars, monks, and merchants, ultimately painting a more comprehensive picture of their existence, known as bone biographies, by examining their DNA, physical trauma, activities, and diet. The discovery was published last Thursday in the journal Antiquities.
The study's lead author, Professor John Robb at the University of Cambridge, said in a statement: "Skeletal biographies use all available evidence to reconstruct the life of an ancient man. "Our team used techniques similar to the Richard III skeleton study, but this time, we revealed the details of unknown lives – people we would never have known in any other way. ”
An illustration shows a typical market in medieval Cambridge.
These skeletal biographies can be found at the University of Cambridge's "After the Plague" project**.
Dr Sarah Inskip, a co-author of the study and a researcher at the University of Leicester and an osteoarchist, said in a statement: "The importance of conducting bone biographical research on ordinary people, rather than the elite documented in historical sources, is that they represent the majority of the population, but are the people we know the least. ”
Extract the story from the bones
The five-year "After the Plague" project, which began in 2016, focused on investigating the funerals of St John's Evangelical Hospital in Cambridge, the medieval parish church of the Saints next to the castle and Augustinian Abbey. Together, these bones tell a collective story about the people who lived in Cambridge in the Middle Ages and the difficulties they faced.
The researchers gave their subjects pseudonyms based on records from the time.
Rob said: "Death and time guarantee our *** anonymity, but we want them to resonate. ”
These biographies provide us with a window into the lives of people like Anne and Eudes. Anne is a woman who has suffered multiple injuries that have caused her to limp in her right leg, square chin, eat a lot of food, and suffer from gout.
The bones also tell surprising stories, such as that of Edmund, who suffered from leprosy but may not have been diagnosed and was not ostracized. He lived among the general population and was later buried in a rare wooden coffin instead of a simple shroud. Then there was Watt, who survived the plague but died of cancer.
Walter was a resident of St. John's Hospital of Charity, a medieval welfare system established to house the poor and infirm.
Like all medieval towns, Cambridge is a sea of demand," Robb said. The meaning of this sentence is: "There are a few poor people who are relatively fortunate to have spent their entire lives in the hospital. The selection criteria will be a combination of material needs, local politics and spiritual values. ”
A dozen or so people can live in the hospital at the same time, sometimes for several years. The hospital was founded in 1195 and lasted for hundreds of years before St. John's College replaced it in 1511. It was established to help the poor, not to provide health care, and regulations prohibit limited staff from sheltering those who are unable to care for themselves.
This illustration depicts Watt, who survived the Black Death and died of cancer in his later years.
We know that lepers, pregnant women, and the mentally ill are forbidden, and piety is a must," Rob said. Robb said residents of the hospital were asked to pray for the souls of the hospital's donors. "A hospital is a prayer factory. ”
While many of the bones belonged to locals living in Cambridge or surrounding villages, the three men buried in the hospital cemetery appear to have come to the city from far away. One of them was a woman named Christiana.
Analysis of the chemical composition of her bones revealed that she came as far as Norway. Researchers aren't sure what brought her to Cambridge at a young age, but it's likely that it was for short-term travels, to travel with family members of merchants, or to attend the annual Stuhlbridge Market, one of the largest in the UK on the outskirts of the city.
During the visit, Christiana died. Her bones showed no injuries or serious chronic illness, but a rapid infection could have led to her death.
According to the project, while the hospital does not accept short-term hospitalizations**, Christina is buried in the sacred ground of the cemetery as a form of charity.
Life in the Middle Ages
By analysing each skeleton, researchers can gain insight into what Cambridge residents eat, the physical exertion of daily life, and the illnesses or injuries they have suffered. These bones reveal how hard life can be.
For example, half of those buried in the All Saints Cemetery did not live their childhood. The children, buried in the hospital cemetery, are small for their age and show signs of anaemia, injuries and tuberculosis.
This skull belonged to Deacon, who died of the plague.
The residents of the hospital all had tragic childhoods plagued by famine and disease. But once they are admitted to the hospital, the situation tends to change, indicating that they are getting a balanced and nutritious diet, which allows many to improve in the last few years of life.
Since dietary changes can take years to be reflected on the bones, the analysis suggests that some residents, such as Maria, may have been living there for 5 to 10 years. Maria was ill from an early age and probably died of tuberculosis between the ages of 18 and 25.
The situation was different for the men in the Augustinian monastery, who were an inch taller than the townspeople on average and had a diet full of meat and fish.
A study of the arm bones also revealed that a group of early university scholars were buried in the hospital cemetery. The townspeople all have strong right arms, reflecting their manual or manual labor, but 10 male skeletons stand out.
These people usually do not engage in manual labor or crafts, they are in good health, well-nourished, and can usually live to old age. They seem to be early academics at Cambridge," Rob said. "The university clergy did not have the support of the clergy of the religious community from the small to the large. Most scholars are funded by family funds, teaching income, or charitable sponsorships. Less affluent academics risk falling into poverty if they become ill or infirm. As the university grows, more academics will eventually die in the cemetery of the hospital. ”
In 2010, members of the Cambridge Archaeological Team carried out excavations at St John's Hospital.
Some of the skeletons belonged to those who did not survive the plague, such as Deacon, who died between the ages of 45 and 60. He probably only lived two or three days after getting sick, and he hid in his home before being infected by the Black Death. But according to the project, the people who cared for him made sure he was properly buried in the cemetery of the local church.
While the Black Death claimed thousands of lives, it wasn't the biggest threat, the study's authors said. Chronic infectious diseases such as tuberculosis affect populations across Europe.
"Everyday ailments such as measles, whooping cough and gastrointestinal infections ultimately took a greater toll on the medieval population," Rob said. ”