Evidence for Teeth-as-Tools and Palliative Oral Hygiene at Late Medieval Villamagna

Author:
Agarwal, Sabrina C., Trombley, Trent, Beauchesne, Patrick, and Goodson, Caroline
Year: 
2018
Journal/Series title: 
Archaeological Research Facility Field Reports
Open Access PDF: 
Read Online
Publisher: 
UC Berkeley
4142’s left maxillary central incisor (LUI1) with evidence of both notching and enamel chipping
Abstract: 
There has been little large scale study of the biological signatures of growth, aging, and disease patterns in Medieval Italian skeletal remains from peasant communities, or how these signatures of everyday life intersect with aspects of social identity such as gender or status. This funded study comparatively examined growth and activity patterns in a medieval skeletal sample excavated from San Pietro at Villamagna, a small religious center near Anagni in Lazio, and a sample from the rural Italian parish cemetery from the site of Pieve di Pava (in Siena) dated to the 8th-13th century. The study has started a project examining age and sex-related patterns of activity (arthritis and bone quantity) and disease (dental and metabolic stress), and growth (stature), together with GIS spatial info on mortuary site patterns and grave goods that have already been collected and archival historical documents. Overall, this unique comparative study of differential patterns of medieval health along the lines of social identity is aimed to look at two regions with markedly different history of communes and papal governance compared to rural areas closer to Rome/Lazio.