Pathways to the medieval hospital: collective osteobiographies of poverty and charity

Inskip, Sarah; Cessford, Craig; Dittmar, Jenna; Rose, Alice; Mulder, Bram; O'Connell, Tamsin; Mitchell, Piers D.; Scheib, Christiana; Hui, Ruoyun; Kivisild, Toomas; Price, Mary; Stock, Jay; Robb, John

Abstract

Medieval hospitals were founded to provide charity, but poverty and infirmity were broad and socially determined categories and little is known about the residents of these institutions and the pathways that led them there. Combining skeletal, isotopic and genetic data, the authors weave a collective biography of individuals buried at the Hospital of St John the Evangelist, Cambridge. By starting with the physical remains, rather than historical expectations, they demonstrate the varied life courses of those who were ultimately buried in the hospital's cemetery, illustrating the diverse faces of medieval poverty and institutional notions of charity. The findings highlight the value of collective osteobiography when reconstructing the social landscapes of the past.

Citation

Inskip, S., Cessford, C., Dittmar, J., Rose, A., Mulder, B., O'Connell, T., …Robb, J. (2023). Pathways to the medieval hospital: collective osteobiographies of poverty and charity. Antiquity, 97(396), 1581-1597. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.167

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 15, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Dec 1, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023-12
• Deposit Date: Feb 20, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 20, 2024
• Journal: Antiquity
• Print ISSN: 0003-598X
• Electronic ISSN: 1745-1744
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 97
• Issue: 396
• Pages: 1581-1597
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.167
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2270743