The socioeconomic developments in the Medieval Holland and Zeeland impacted on the lifestyle of the residents. Not only did the alteration in living conditions affect disease prevalence, diet and... Show moreThe socioeconomic developments in the Medieval Holland and Zeeland impacted on the lifestyle of the residents. Not only did the alteration in living conditions affect disease prevalence, diet and activity patterns were most likely also subjected to change as a result of the developments. Although general trends are noted in historical sources, the impact on the physical body of the villagers and townsmen is difficult to study on the basis of written sources alone. Therefore, to gain greater insights into the consequences of the socioeconomic developments in Medieval Holland and Zeeland, three skeletal assemblages (362 individuals) are compared: early rural Blokhuizen (AD1000-1196), late rural Klaaskinderkerke (AD1200-1573), and urban Alkmaar (AD1448-1572). Specifically, differences in disease prevalence, activity markers, and variation in levels of dental disease and nutritional stress between the collections are studied. Results indicate that infectious disease levels increased for the urban individuals, most likely as a result of higher population densities and poorer hygiene. The higher prevalence of dental caries in the urban individuals suggests an increase in the ingestion of carbohydrate rich food products. The skeletal data on activity indicates that the urban residents were less mobile than their rural counterparts, but were experiencing similar degrees of mechanical loading on their joints. Interestingly, the absence of differences in nutritional deficiencies and other non-specific stress markers suggest that living in the urban centre is not the health hazard it is commonly assumed to be. This poster demonstrates how the skeletal data can be used to gain a better understanding of life in medieval society Show less
