Diet and Dental Caries in Post-Medieval London
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Diet and Dental Caries in Post-Medieval London Madeleine Mant & Charlotte Roberts
Published online: 25 December 2014 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
Abstract This paper explores the dentition of individuals excavated from two postmedieval London cemeteries. Individuals from Chelsea Old Church, a middle-class group, and St. Bride’s lower churchyard, a working-class group, were selected and studied. The relative dental status of each group was explored by determining the prevalence of individuals and teeth affected by dental caries. The overall dental status of both class groups was found to be poor; diet was the most likely causative factor. Access to cariogenic foods such as sugar and refined flour likely affected individuals’ dental status regardless of their social class. Keywords Bioarchaeology . Diet . Status . Dental caries . Antemortem tooth loss
Introduction The study of skeletons from archaeological sites, or bioarchaeology, provides an opportunity to explore human health and disease in the past using direct evidence (e.g., Buikstra 1977, 1991; Larsen 1997; Zuckerman and Armelagos 2011). The field focuses on excavated human remains from funerary contexts such as cemeteries and crypts ranging in date from prehistory to the early modern period. In recent years in England there has been an increase in excavations of post-medieval contexts in advance of modern infrastructure development, particularly in London (National Planning Policy Framework 2012). Studies of post-medieval cemeteries are advantaged with contemporary cultural and historical data that provide a context in which to interpret the biological data. The socioeconomic division between rich and poor and how this divide may affect individuals’ wellbeing is a concern for bioarchaeologists and contemporary researchers alike. Rapid urbanization in the United Kingdom is putting extreme pressure on M. Mant (*) Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada e-mail: [email protected] C. Roberts Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK e-mail: [email protected]
Int J Histor Archaeol (2015) 19:188–207
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infrastructure and health services, causing further stratification of society (Hills et al. 2010). The World Health Organization’s European Healthy Cities Network (WHO 2010) discusses equity in health and inclusiveness in cities, citing the connection between urban poverty and ill health. Current research suggests that poverty and inequality have independent and considerable effects on the relationship between health and national income (Biggs et al. 2010). Wilkinson and Pickett (2009) have explored how increasing inequality worldwide is negatively affecting peoples’ mental and physical health. Sir Michael Marmot, past president of the British Medical Association, states “[that] despite living in one of the richest and most developed countries in the world, many individuals in the UK have a poor start in life simply because they are born on the wrong side of the tracks” (British Medi
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