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Death, disability, and diversity: An investigation of physical impairment and differential mortuary treatment in Anglo-Saxon England
Bohling, Solange N.
Bohling, Solange N.
Publication Date
2020
End of Embargo
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The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.
Peer-Reviewed
Open Access status
Accepted for publication
Institution
University of Bradford
Department
School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences
Awarded
2020
Embargo end date
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PhD Thesis Volume 1
Adobe PDF, 17.76 MB
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PhD Thesis Volume 2
Adobe PDF, 16.06 MB
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Appendix 1- Comparison of previous osteological data and demographic analysis.pdf
Adobe PDF, 3.14 MB
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Appendix 2- Comparison of funerary treatment between age and sex groups.pdf
Adobe PDF, 3.64 MB
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Appendix 3
Adobe PDF, 41.95 MB
Additional title
Abstract
Until recently, individuals with physical impairment have been overlooked
within the field of archaeology due to the controversy surrounding the topics of
disability and care in the past. The current research adds to the growing body of
archaeological disability studies with an exploration of physical impairment and
the possibility of disability-related care in Anglo-Saxon England (5th-11th centuries
AD), utilising palaeopathological, funerary, and documentary analyses.
Palaeopathological analysis of 86 individuals with physical impairment
from 19 Anglo-Saxon cemetery populations (nine early, five middle, and five later)
was performed, and the possibility of disability-related care was explored for
several individuals. The mortuary treatment data (e.g. grave orientation, body
position, grave good inclusion) was gathered for the entire burial population at
each site (N=3,646), and the funerary treatment of the individuals with and
without physical impairment was compared statistically and qualitatively, both
within and between the Anglo-Saxon periods.
No obvious mortuary differentiation of individuals with physical impairment
was observed, although several patterns were noted. In three early Anglo-Saxon
cemeteries, spatial association between individuals with physical impairment,
non-adults, and females was observed. Early Anglo-Saxon individuals with
physical impairment were more frequently buried in marginal locations, and two
such individuals were buried in isolation. In the middle and later Anglo-Saxon
periods, the funerary treatment of individuals with physical impairment became
less variable, they were less frequently buried in marginal locations, and at three
middle Anglo-Saxon cemeteries, they were buried in association with socially
significant features in the cemetery landscape. The provision of care to ensure
survival was not necessary for a majority of the individuals with physical impairment, but several individuals (lower limb paralysis, mental impairment) may have received regular, long-term care.
This research proposes that the decreasing variability of mortuary treatment of individuals with physical impairment observed throughout the Anglo-Saxon period suggests that more variable attitudes about disability existed both within and between early Anglo-Saxon communities, while the political, social,
and religious unification starting in the middle Anglo-Saxon period may have led to the development of more standardised perceptions of disability in later Anglo-Saxon England.
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Type
Thesis
Qualification name
PhD