Stress, sex, and plague: Patterns of developmental stress and survival in pre‐ and post‐Black Death London

Abstract

Objectives: Previous research revealed declines in survivorship in London before the Black Death (c. 1346Death (c. -1353, and improvements in survivorship following the epidemic. These trends indicate that there were declines in general levels of health before the Black Death and improvements thereof afterwards. This study expands on previous research by examining whether changes in survivorship were consistent between the sexes, and how patterns of developmental stress markers changed before and after the Black Death. Materials and Methods:This study uses samples from London cemeteries dated to one of three periods: Early Pre-Black Death (1000-1200 AD, n 5 255), Late PreBlack Death (1200-1250 AD, n 5 247), or Post-Black Death (1350-1540 AD n 5 329). Temporal trends in survivorship are assessed via Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, and trends in tibial length (as a proxy for stature) and linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) are assessed using t-tests and Chi-square tests, respectively.Results: Survivorship for both sexes decreased before the Black Death and increased afterwards. For males, LEH frequencies increased and stature decreased before the epidemic, and LEH declined and stature increased after the Black Death. For females, the only significant change with respect to developmental stress markers was a decrease in stature after the Black Death.Conclusions: These results might reflect variation between the sexes in sensitivity to stressors, the effects of nutrition on pubertal timing, disproportionate access to dietary resources for males in the aftermath of the Black Death, the disproportionate deaths of frail individuals during the epidemic, or some combination of these factors. | I NT ROD UCTI ONRecent research has yielded important insights about the 14 th -century Black Death, one of the most devastating epidemics in history and the first outbreak of what is often referred to as the Second Pandemic of Plague. Molecular evidence from 14 th -century Black Death burials confirms the long-held (though previously strongly contested) assumption that the Black Death was caused by Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes bubonic plague in living populations (Bos et al., 2011;Haensch et al., 2010;Kacki, Rahalison, Rajerison, Ferroglio, & Bianucci, 2011;Raoult et al., 2000;Schuenemann et al., 2011). There is also molecular evidence that Y. pestis infected individuals in the Bronze age (Rasmussen et al., 2015), during the 6 th -century AD Plague of Justinian (Harbeck et al., 2013;Wagner et al., 2014;Wiechmann & Grupe, 2005), and in outbreaks of plague subsequent to the Black Death in the medieval and early modern periods (Bos et al., 2016;Tran et al., 2011). Plague continues to kill people every year. During a recent outbreak in Madagascar, for example, there were nearly 500 reported cases and over 80 deaths (Bertherat, 2015). Plague has thus affected humans, at times severely, for over 5000 years.Despite the interest that plague has generated among generations of scholars from a variety of disciplines, some o...

Pandemics, past and present: The role of biological anthropology in interdisciplinary pandemic studies

“…Analyses from before, during, and after the Black Death in Denmark showed that urbanization had differential impacts on survivorship across the lifespan (Kelmelis & DeWitte, 2021 ). Further, despite potential sex differences following the pandemic (e.g., DeWitte, 2018 ; DeWitte & Lewis, 2021 ), research on whether sex was associated with previous stress, frailty, and thus mortality risks during the Black Death and subsequent recurring plagues has produced mixed results (Curtis & Roosen, 2017 ; DeWitte, 2009 , 2010 ; Godde, Pasillas, & Sanchez, 2020 ).…”

Twenty‐first century bioarchaeology: Taking stock and moving forward

“…Ice Age (Brooke, 2014;Campbell, 2016). Bioarchaeological research in London has examined how severe famine events produced by environmental changes-in syndemic interaction with intense population pressures, increasing urbanization, and dramatic social inequalitymight have exacerbated vulnerability to plague, leading to higher mortality rates than might have otherwise been the case (DeWitte, 2015b(DeWitte, , 2018(DeWitte, , 2021DeWitte & Slavin, 2013; see also Section 9.1). Associations have also been suggested between climate conditions and other historical pandemics, such as the Antonine Plague in the second century CE (Elliott, 2016) and the Plague of Justinian (also referred to as the First Pandemic of Plague) that began in the sixth century CE (Harper, 2017;McCormick et al, 2012, see also .…”

Skeletal evidence of structural violence among undocumented migrants from Mexico and Central America

“…As a final point of discussion, bioarchaeologists engaging with life-course approaches and considering the relationship between skeletal lesions representing early life stresses and adult disease and mortality (e.g., DOHaD) might view the results of this study as an example of the powerful influence of social forces on selective mortality. The possibility that long-term health outcomes and risk of death may have social-not just developmental-origins (DeWitte, 2018;DeWitte et al, 2016;Gowland, 2015;Temple, 2019)…”