The researchers studied the remains of more than 300 individuals from various social backgrounds, buried in three different cemeteries in the city, from the 10th to the 14th centuries.
The Cambridge University team examined bones from a parish cemetery for workers, a charity hospital where the sick and needy were put to rest, and a convent for the wealthy, detailing each break and fracture to create a barometer of social inequality.
X-ray analysis of the bones revealed various levels of suffering – accident, occupational injury or violence – across the social spectrum.
Of the three sites, the remains excavated at the Hospital de São João Evangelista – a 12th century house for the needy – contained the least number of fractures. Many residents had skeletal evidence of chronic illnesses like tuberculosis and were unable to work.
About 44% of workers had bone fractures, compared with 32% of those in the convent and 27% of those buried in the hospital. Meanwhile, bone fractures were more common in men (40%) than women (26%).
“By comparing the skeletal trauma of remains buried in various locations within a city like Cambridge, we can assess the dangers of daily life experienced by different spheres of medieval society,” said Jenna Dittmar, lead author of the study, published Monday in American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
“We can see that ordinary workers are at a greater risk of injury compared to the friars and their benefactors or the more protected interns at the hospital,” said Dittmar, an associate researcher at the McDonald’s Institute of Archaeological Research at Cambridge University.
“These were people who spent their days working long hours doing heavy manual labor. In the city, people worked in trades and trades, as a bricklayer and blacksmith, or as workers in general. Outside the city, many passed from dawn to dusk doing jobs crushing bones in the fields or taking care of livestock, “he added.
The team found that physical trauma prevailed across the social spectrum – but things were more difficult for the poorest people, who supported the burden of physical labor.
Even so, the most extreme injury was observed in a friar, who had complete fractures in the middle of both femurs, while skeletal injuries related to violence were found in about 4% of the population.
“We can see this inequality registered in the bones of medieval Cambridge residents. However, serious trauma prevailed across the social spectrum. Life was more difficult at the bottom – but life was tough everywhere,” added Dittmar.