Sex differences in adult famine mortality in medieval London

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8315277
AutoresN Dewitte (0000-0003-0754-8485, Department of Anthropology University of South Carolina Columbia South Carolina, autor de correspondencia), Samantha L Yaussy (0000-0001-7069-2637, Department of Anthropology University of Nevada Reno Nevada)
Año2020
Volumen171
Número1
Páginas164-169
Fecha de publicación2020-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.23930
PMID31587269
OpenAlexW2977436835
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas11
Referencias citadas46

OBJECTIVES: Recurrent famine events during the medieval period might have contributed to excess mortality during the Black Death in London, England (c. 1349-1350). Previous research using conventional methods of age estimation revealed that adult males experienced lower risks of mortality under "normal" (attritional) but not famine mortality conditions following the Black Death. However, given the biases inherent in conventional age estimation methods, this study reassesses sex differences in risks of medieval adult famine mortality using ages estimated via transition analysis, which avoids some of the limitations of conventional age estimation methods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We apply hazards analysis (the Gompertz model of adult mortality) to ages estimated for human skeletal remains (n = 1245) from London cemeteries dated to the pre-Black Death (c. 1000-1250 CE) and post-Black Death (c. 1350-1540 CE) periods. RESULTS: The results reveal no sex differences in risks of mortality before the Black Death but indicate that adult males faced lower risks of mortality after the Black Death during conditions of normal and famine mortality. CONCLUSIONS: These findings largely support those of our previous research, which suggested that selective mortality during the Black Death or sex-biased improvements in standard of living following the epidemic reduced risk of mortality for adult males in the post-Black Death period under normal mortality conditions. However, the use of transition analysis age estimates also revealed a reduced risk of mortality for post-Black Death adult males under famine conditions

Bioarchaeology · Black male · Estimation · Excess mortality · Famine · Geography · Gompertz function · Mortality rate · Sociology · Statistics · Demography · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Medicine · Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research · Gerontology