Malaria was an important disease in the history of The Netherlands, especially in the coastal, marshy regions. However, malaria is only rarely included in archaeological discussions about past... Show moreMalaria was an important disease in the history of The Netherlands, especially in the coastal, marshy regions. However, malaria is only rarely included in archaeological discussions about past Dutch disease, most likely because it does not result in any pathognomonic skeletal lesions. Since anaemia is one of the main symptoms of malaria, cribra orbitalia could be formed in response to the disease. Currently, these orbital lesions are often used in osteoarchaeological research as a non-specific stress marker. However, if malaria can be responsible as well, as suggested by Gowland and Western (2012) for England, interpretations of cribra orbitalia in Dutch research are incomplete and need to be reconsidered. Therefore, this paper will analyse the relationship between cribra orbitalia and marshy areas in the medieval Netherlands to investigate if malaria is likely to have been a causative agent. To do this, cribra orbitalia prevalence is studied in three skeletal collections and supplemented by data published in osteological reports (total: n=1838), which are then linked to geological characteristics. Results indicate a significant correlation (p=<0.001) between the orbital pathology and areas that are deemed malarial, suggesting that malaria was an important illness in these regions of The Netherlands. The results of this poster illustrate the potential limitations of using cribra orbitalia as a non-specific stress marker and demonstrate that combining archaeological context with osteological data can be a way forward in research into the true causative agents of markers of non-specific stress. Show less
