Investigating dietary patterns and organisational structure by using stable isotope analysis: a pilot study of the Danish medieval leprosy hospital at Næstved

Brozou, Anastasia; Lynnerup, Niels; Mannino, Marcello A.; Millard, Andrew R.; Gröcke, Darren R.

doi:10.1127/anthranz/2019/0949

Investigating dietary patterns and organisational structure by using stable isotope analysis: a pilot study of the Danish medieval leprosy hospital at Næstved

Brozou, Anastasia; Lynnerup, Niels; Mannino, Marcello A.; Millard, Andrew R.; Gröcke, Darren R.

Authors

Anastasia Brozou

Niels Lynnerup

Marcello A. Mannino

Dr Andrew Millard a.r.millard@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Darren R. Gröcke

Abstract

During the 12th and 13th centuries, numerous leprosy hospitals were founded in Europe. Given that leprosy was not considered infectious, this may reflect social dimensions of the disease. Aiming at exploring the impact of leprosy on medieval people and the organisation of the Danish leprosarium at Næstved, we reconstructed the diet of twenty patients using stable isotopes, and compared our results with relevant historical data. The isotope results revealed a terrestrial C3 diet with a small contribution of aquatic foods. Contrary to historical evidence of daily fish consumption in the leprosy hospital, only six individuals consumed relatively large amounts of freshwater fish. Leprosaria have been considered monastic institutions, and thus a varied diet, poor in aquatic protein, questions the monastic nature of the hospital and points to a social stratification. A multi-isotope analysis of a larger sample set would add to our understanding of the diet of the leprosy patients, as well as their treatment in the leprosarium.

Citation

Brozou, A., Lynnerup, N., Mannino, M. A., Millard, A. R., & Gröcke, D. R. (2019). Investigating dietary patterns and organisational structure by using stable isotope analysis: a pilot study of the Danish medieval leprosy hospital at Næstved. Anthropologischer Anzeiger, 76(3), 167-178. https://doi.org/10.1127/anthranz/2019/0949

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Feb 5, 2019
Online Publication Date	Apr 3, 2019
Publication Date	Jan 1, 2019
Deposit Date	Mar 15, 2019
Publicly Available Date	Mar 15, 2019
Journal	Anthropologischer Anzeiger
Print ISSN	0003-5548
Electronic ISSN	2363-7099
Publisher	Schweizerbart Science Publishers
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	76
Issue	3
Pages	167-178
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1127/anthranz/2019/0949
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1335450