The impact of urbanisation and industrialisation in Medieval and Post-Medieval Britain. An assessment of the morbidity and mortality of non-adult skeletons from the cemeteries of two urban and two rural sites in England (AD 850-1859).

摘要

This study compares the morbidity and mortality of non-adults in urban and ruraludcemeteries between AD 850-1859 It was hypothesised that the development ofudurbanisation and industrialisation with subsequenot overcrowding and environmentaludpollution, would result in a decline in human health in the urban groups. This would be evident in lower mean ages at death, retarded growth and higher rates of childhood stress udand chronic infection in the children living in the urbanised environments.udNon-adult skeletons were examined from Raunds Furnells in Northamptonshire (Anglo-udSaxon), St. Helen-on-the-Walls in York (later medieval, urban), Wharrarn Percy inudYorkshire (later medieval, rural) and from the crypt of Christ Church Spitalfields, inudLondon (AD 1729-1859). The results showed that it was industrialisation, rather thanudurbanisation that was most detrimental to child health. Weaning ages declined from twoudyears in the Anglo-Saxon period to one year in the eighteenth and nineteenth century.udIndustrialisation was characterised by a lower mean age at death, growth retardation and an increase in the prevalence of rickets and scurvy. Although higher rates of dentaluddisease and matemal stress were apparent in the urbanised samples, respiratory diseasesudwere more common in the rural areas. Growth profiles suggested that environmentaludfactors were similar in the urban and rural communities in the later medieval period.udHowever, there was evidence that employment had a detrimental effect on the health ofudlater medieval apprentices.udThis study demonstrates the importance of non-adult remains in addressing issues ofudhealth and adaptation in the past and, the validity of using skeletal material to measure environmental stress.