March 29, 2024

Innovation & Tech Today

CHECK THIS OUT

Buyer’s guide: The Top 50 Most Innovative Products

The Medieval Working Class, More Than Face Value

Little is known about the lives of the working class from medieval England. A new project at the University of Cambridge, called “After the plague: health and history in medieval Cambridge,” wants to change that by piecing together biographies based on recently exhumed remains.

medieval
The cemetery of St John’s Hospital. Image credit: Cambridge Archaeological Unit

After nearly 400 bodies were discovered in a large hospital graveyard at Cambridge, Professor of Archaeology John Robb and colleagues combined traditional forensic techniques with archaeological expertise to reconstruct the face and lifestyle of one of these medieval people.

From a skeleton, the researchers determined that its male owner had wear and tear consistent with a life of work. Furthermore, lapses in tooth enamel growth suggested that this man may have experienced multiple illnesses as a child. Once DNA results are in, these researchers will also be able to tell what hair and eye color the man had. “The less money and property you had, the less likely anybody was to ever write down anything about you,” said Robb. “Skeletons like this are really our chance to learn about how the ordinary poor lived.”

Featured Image Courtesy of Pixabay

By I&T Today

By I&T Today

Innovation & Tech Today features a wide variety of writers on tech, science, business, sustainability, and culture. Have an idea? Send it to submit@innotechtoday.com

All Posts

More
Articles

SEARCH OUR SITE​

Search

GET THE LATEST ISSUE IN YOUR INBOX​

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER NOW!​

* indicates required

 

We hate spam too. You'll get great content and exclusive offers. Nothing more.

TOP POSTS THIS WEEK

INNOVATION & TECH TODAY - SOCIAL MEDIA​

Looking for the latest tech news? We have you covered.

Don’t be the office chump. Sign up here for our twice weekly newsletter and outsmart your coworkers.