Diet and Health
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Reading
Department Name: Archaeology
Abstract
Understanding the gulf between rich and poor has particular relevance today, and while modern clinical developments have improved the health of the British (and world) population over the last century 1, socioeconomic status is still a strong determinant of health 2. This is most evident in a society's youngest members whose health best reflects these social inequalities, with the first 1000 days of life setting the scene for adult patterns of disease that can resonate through generations. Key to a good foundation in health is the way children are fed.
Differences in maternal health and infant feeding between the rich and poor have never been more stark than in the eighteenth century. Historical sources document the abandonment of breastmilk for more fashionable formulas by the rich, and early weaning and bottle feeding for working mothers in new industrial factories. But how ubiquitous was this trend? Direct evidence for the full extent of these cultural transitions and its impact on health is only available through the analysis of the skeletal remains of women and children themselves.
Recent advances in the theoretical approach to maternal and infant health in past populations, or the mother-infant nexus 9,10 have highlighted the importance of understanding multiple interrelated factors. To address the interplay between socioeconomic status, cultural feeding practices, maternal diet, infant feeding, and health I will ask the following:
Did the prenatal maternal diet affect the health of the fetus?
How significant was the abandonment of breastfeeding in early modern England?
Are different cultural infant feeding practices visible in the palaeopathological record and through isotopic signatures in the dentition?
Do these patterns reflect broad variation in socioeconomic status of mothers and their children?
Identifying in-utero stress is still fraught with complications and evidence linking socioeconomic status with diet and health in utero is difficult to determine. Despite this, new palaeopathological approaches provide the opportunity to find direct evidence linking poor maternal diet and fetal health. The application of these methods in early modern British contexts will allow us to better comprehend the relationship between socioeconomic status and maternal-foetal diet and health, bridging the gap in the historical literature and bioarchaeological evidence.
The study sample will comprise skeletons of reproductive age women (25-35 years), and young children of pre and post weaning age (0-3 years). Two early modern cemeteries have been selected: St John's Redhill, in Surrey (n=168) and St. James, London (n=800) both cemeteries were in use between AD 1750 and 1900 35 (Raynor, pers.comm.). Low and high-status individuals buried in different areas of the cemetery will be selected. A smaller subset of individuals (n=40) will be sampled for stable isotope analysis.
Enamel defects in addition to healed and active cases of cribra orbitalia, vitamin D deficiency (rickets and osteomalacia) and vitamin C deficiency (scurvy) will be diagnosed following macroscopic and radiographic standards from the palaeopathological literature. In-utero dietary stress will be assessed in fetuses and perinates (26-46 weeks) with rickets and scurvy and children with enamel defects on the deciduous maxillary incisors.
Differences in maternal health and infant feeding between the rich and poor have never been more stark than in the eighteenth century. Historical sources document the abandonment of breastmilk for more fashionable formulas by the rich, and early weaning and bottle feeding for working mothers in new industrial factories. But how ubiquitous was this trend? Direct evidence for the full extent of these cultural transitions and its impact on health is only available through the analysis of the skeletal remains of women and children themselves.
Recent advances in the theoretical approach to maternal and infant health in past populations, or the mother-infant nexus 9,10 have highlighted the importance of understanding multiple interrelated factors. To address the interplay between socioeconomic status, cultural feeding practices, maternal diet, infant feeding, and health I will ask the following:
Did the prenatal maternal diet affect the health of the fetus?
How significant was the abandonment of breastfeeding in early modern England?
Are different cultural infant feeding practices visible in the palaeopathological record and through isotopic signatures in the dentition?
Do these patterns reflect broad variation in socioeconomic status of mothers and their children?
Identifying in-utero stress is still fraught with complications and evidence linking socioeconomic status with diet and health in utero is difficult to determine. Despite this, new palaeopathological approaches provide the opportunity to find direct evidence linking poor maternal diet and fetal health. The application of these methods in early modern British contexts will allow us to better comprehend the relationship between socioeconomic status and maternal-foetal diet and health, bridging the gap in the historical literature and bioarchaeological evidence.
The study sample will comprise skeletons of reproductive age women (25-35 years), and young children of pre and post weaning age (0-3 years). Two early modern cemeteries have been selected: St John's Redhill, in Surrey (n=168) and St. James, London (n=800) both cemeteries were in use between AD 1750 and 1900 35 (Raynor, pers.comm.). Low and high-status individuals buried in different areas of the cemetery will be selected. A smaller subset of individuals (n=40) will be sampled for stable isotope analysis.
Enamel defects in addition to healed and active cases of cribra orbitalia, vitamin D deficiency (rickets and osteomalacia) and vitamin C deficiency (scurvy) will be diagnosed following macroscopic and radiographic standards from the palaeopathological literature. In-utero dietary stress will be assessed in fetuses and perinates (26-46 weeks) with rickets and scurvy and children with enamel defects on the deciduous maxillary incisors.
