Sex-Specific Patterns of Survival in the Context of Urbanization and Environmental Change in Medieval and Post-medieval London, England

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The State of the Art in Medieval European Archaeology: New Discoveries, Future Directions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Medieval and post-medieval populations in England experienced several crises, including famines and plague epidemics. These occurred at a time of increasing social inequality, urbanization, and shifting climatic conditions. This study examines temporal trends in survivorship (as a proxy for health) by sex from 1000-1739 AD using a sample of 1250 adult skeletons from London cemeteries dated to the following periods: 1000-1200 AD (n = 275), 1200-1250 AD (n = 271), 1350-1540 AD (n = 310), 1569-1670 AD (n = 212), and 1670-1739 AD (n = 182). There is significant variation in mean survival time for both sexes across these periods. Estimated survivorship declined prior to the Black Death. Survivorship is highest just after the Black Death, c. 1350 - 1540. Survivorship drops in 1569-1670 but appears to improve for males, but not females, thereafter. These results suggest that improvements in health, which could have occurred because of improvements in standards of living following the Black Death, might have been lost as the population and available resources achieved a new equilibrium from 1569-1670. The apparent upward trend in male survivorship in 1670-1739 might reflect gendered differences in access to resources or exposures to stressors at this time.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The State of the Art in Medieval European Archaeology: New Discoveries, Future Directions   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22972