Like Mother, Like Child: Investigating Perinatal and Maternal Health Stress in Post-medieval London

Abstract

Post-Medieval London (16 th -19 th centuries) was a stressful environment in which to be poor.Overcrowded and squalid housing, physically demanding and risky working conditions, air and water pollution, inadequate diet, and exposure to infectious diseases created high levels of morbidity and low life expectancy. All of these factors pressed with particular severity on the lowest members of the social strata, with burgeoning disparities in health between the richest and poorest. Fetal, perinatal and infant skeletal remains provide the most sensitive source of bioarchaeological information regarding past population health and in particular maternal wellbeing. This chapter examined evidence for chronic growth and health disruption in 136 fetal, perinatal and infant skeletons from four low status cemetery samples in post-Medieval London.The aim of this study was to consider the impact of poverty on the maternal/infant nexus, through an analysis of evidence of growth disruption and pathological lesions. The results highlight the dire consequences of poverty in London during this period from the very earliest moments of life.

Growing up in the suburbs: Growth faltering and disease burden in the children from 16th to 18th century Tallinn, Estonia

“…Although none of these samples perfectly correspond to the time period Tõnismägi cemetery was in use, they represent children of low socioeconomic status exposed to similar environmental conditions. The post‐medieval children act as a good reference sample for those with severe growth faltering (Hodson & Gowland, 2019; Newman & Gowland, 2017). In the final analysis, age categories were pooled into three groups (0–1 year, 2–3 years, and 4–9 years) because of the uneven distribution of individuals between the datasets and to increase the sample size for the older age groups.…”

“…The post-medieval children act as a good reference sample for those with severe growth faltering (Hodson & Gowland, 2019;Newman & Gowland, 2017). In the final analysis, age categories were pooled into three groups (0-1 year, 2-3 years, and 4-9 years) because of the uneven distribution of individuals between the datasets and to increase the sample size for the older age groups.…”

“…Although Hodson and Gowland (2019) have demonstrated severe growth disruption among infants and perinates from post-medieval England, the latter were not included in the current growth study because of the absence of dental crowns. However, while the lack of growth faltering in the infants may be taken to suggest a good maternal environment, given the poor socioeconomic status of their potential mothers, it seems more likely that the Tõnismägi babies may have died before growth faltering became evident (DCRBMD, 1724(DCRBMD, -1758Wood et al, 1992).…”

Contagion in the Capital: Exploring the Impact of Urbanisation and Infectious Disease Risk on Child Health in Nineteenth-Century London, England

“…However, their high prevalence can by proxy identify populations that may have increased susceptibility to severe morbidity or mortality from infectious diseases due to a weakening of the immune system and under nutrition. Prior analysis of multiple low status skeletal assemblages of infants from post-Medieval London showed comparable results, with limited evidence of specific infection, but a high prevalence of general non-specific skeletal pathology, indicative of overall poor health (Hodson and Gowland 2020). Thus, when combined with historical documentation, such as the St Bride's burial records, skeletal data becomes an essential component to the overall assessment of the bodily impact of urbanisation on non-adults.…”

Desafíos en la estimación de la edad de muerte de individuos no adultos en restos humanos de cazadores recolectores de Tierra del Fuego (Argentina)

“…La estimación de la edad de muerte en restos humanos es empleada como uno de los datos centrales en las investigaciones vinculadas a la antropología forense, la paleodemografía y el análisis paleopatológico en restos óseos y dentales, entre otros. La obtención de este tipo de información en individuos no adultos resulta imprescindible para realizar inferencias sobre múltiples problemáticas, como las tasas de mortalidad, los procesos de crecimiento y desarrollo, las situaciones de morbilidad, el periodo de destete, las condiciones congénitas y socioambientales, la dinámica paleodemográfica y la identificación de conductas sociales relacionadas con el infanticidio (e.g., Chamberlain, 2006;Lewis y Flavel, 2006;Grauer, 2012;Seguy y Buchet, 2013;Hodson y Gowland, 2019).…”