Migrant Health in the Past: Assessment of Differential Growth Conditions between Locals and Nonlocals to Medieval London

Summary

This is an abstract from the "New Work in Medieval Archaeology, Part 1: Landscapes, Food, and Health" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Previous bioarchaeological work in medieval London (ca. 1000–1540) has produced evidence of higher survivorship and lower hazards of mortality and, by inference, better health in adults with nonlocal isotopic (lead and strontium) signatures compared to those with local signatures. This may be a medieval example of “migrant selectivity” (i.e., the “healthy migrant effect”), a phenomenon observed in living populations and a limited number of recent historical populations whereby migrants experience better health on average compared to people in both their regions of origin and receiving populations. There are several possible mechanisms underlying the healthy migrant effect, including differences between locals and migrants in childhood growth conditions that produce long-term consequences for adult health (i.e., developmental origins of health and disease, DoHAD). This study assesses the developmental origins mechanism for the healthy migrant effect in medieval London by comparing adult stature (a marker of developmental stress, or lack thereof) between locals and migrants to the city. Preliminary findings suggest that migrants were, on average, taller than London locals and thus experienced superior childhood growth conditions prior to migrating.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• New Work in Medieval Archaeology, Part 1: Landscapes, Food, and Health   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38023.0