“An osteobiography uses all available evidence to reconstruct an ancient person’s life,” said lead study author John Robb, a professor at Cambridge University, in a statement.
“Our team used techniques familiar from studies such as Richard III’s skeleton, but this time to reveal details of unknown lives — people we would never learn about in any other way.”An illustration shows a typical marketplace in medieval Cambridge.
Mark Gridley/After the PlagueThe bone biographies are available on Cambridge University’s After the Plague project website.
Together, the bones tell a collective story about a cross section of people living in medieval Cambridge and the hardships they faced.
“Everyday diseases, such as measles, whooping cough and gastrointestinal infections, ultimately took a far greater toll on medieval populations,” Robb said.
Persons:
—, ”, John Robb, “, Richard III’s, Mark Gridley, Sarah Inskip, osteoarchaeologist, John the, ” Robb, Anne, Eudes, Edmund, John, Wat, Robb, Christiana, Dickon, Maria, infirmity
Organizations:
CNN —, Cambridge, Cambridge University, University of Leicester, Cambridge’s Hospital of St, St, John’s, Stourbridge Fair, University of Cambridge, “, Cambridge Archaeological, Hospital of St
Locations:
Cambridge, Cambridge’s, Wat, Christiana, Norway, Stourbridge, England, ”, Europe