During the Medieval period of Denmark, economic and trade relations grew inter-regionally, with culture, ideas, and products being transferred on a more regular basis through the 11th to 13th centuries. Beginning around 1050 AD and lasting until AD 1536, the country faced drastic climatic changes, shifting economic and agricultural practices, and disease outbreaks (most notably the bubonic plague). The current study seeks to investigate mobility during this period from two medieval cemeteries around Horsens, Denmark: the rural site of Sejet and the urban site of Ole Wormsgade, both used throughout the 12th to 16th centuries. A previous isotopic analysis using oxygen indicated that some movement was seen at these sites, with three individuals identified as potential migrants from other Scandinavian regions. This study compares the existing oxygen isotopic data with variations in 87Sr/86Sr ratios from these samples. Such ratios represent local bedrock baselines of strontium, which are slightly different between eastern and western Denmark. ICP-MS was used to measure 87Sr/86Sr ratios, and results are interpreted in the context of climatic changes and shifting socioeconomic practices. The results suggest that longer-distance movements into Denmark were seen during the Early Medieval Period. The potential migrant identified in this research points to movement towards the rural population at Sejet, and could possibly connect this migration with marriage rules influencing immigration at the time. This research demonstrates that movement during the medieval period of Denmark was a complex, dynamic, and multilinear process during a time of increasing urbanization. / October 2015

In paleopathology, few other diseases have received more attention than leprosy and studies of skeletal remains from medieval Denmark have primarily focused on urban and leprosarium cemeteries in order to construct diagnostic criteria and disease frequencies of past communities. This project presents data from the rural monastic site of Øm Kloster in the Central Jutland region of Denmark in order to establish disease frequencies between demographic subgroups and general disease prevalence in a regionally representative site. With a sample of 311 adult individuals, cranial and postcranial diagnostic criteria were utilized in order to determine the presence or absence of leprosy on individual skeletons. Each individual was analyzed and categorized by sex, age group, and social status based on burial location and this data was used to yield results on the demographic makeup of the sample and disease frequencies. Lastly, chi-square tests of independence were conducted to determine if there were statistically significant relationships between sex, age, social status, and leprosy. The results indicated that there were no statically strong relationships between these variables; however, it was evident that disease prevalence did increase with age and that there were significantly more males and lay people with leprotic lesions than females and high status individuals. The results suggested that each individual had most likely carried the bacterium, but that there were no significant numbers of individuals affected at any one time. Lastly, the results from the Øm Kloster analysis were compared to those of the rural village cemetery at Tirup and were found to be compatible. Ultimately, this study reflects that disease may have been much more prevalent than was osteologically visible and that this rural community illustrated comparable data with other regional sites. This study shows that lesion frequencies do present evidence to determine general disease prevalence in past populations and to gain data on the overall health of a regionally representative, non-leprosarium cemetery site.

No / This study compares associations between demographic profiles, long bone lengths, bone mineral content, and frequencies of stress indicators in the preadult populations of two medieval skeletal assemblages from Denmark. One is from a leprosarium, and thus probably represents a disadvantaged group (Næstved). The other comes from a normal, and in comparison rather privileged, medieval community (Æbelholt). Previous studies of the adult population indicated differences between the two skeletal collections with regard to mortality, dental size, and metabolic and specific infectious disease. The two samples were analyzed against the view known as the osteological paradox (Wood et al. [1992] Curr. Anthropol. 33:343-370), according to which skeletons displaying pathological modification are likely to represent the healthier individuals of a population, whereas those without lesions would have died without acquiring modifications as a result of a depressed immune response. Results reveal that older age groups among the preadults from Næstved are shorter and have less bone mineral content than their peers from Æbelholt. On average, the Næstved children have a higher prevalence of stress indicators, and in some cases display skeletal signs of leprosy. This is likely a result of the combination of compromised health and social disadvantage, thus supporting a more traditional interpretation. The study provides insights into the health of children from two different biocultural settings of medieval Danish society and illustrates the importance of comparing samples of single age groups.

Thesis--Universitetet i Lund, 1993. / Danish with English summary. Includes bibliographical references (p. 218-238).

Thesis--Universitetet i Lund, 1993. / Danish with English summary. Includes bibliographical references (p. 218-238).