A Bioarchaeolgical Approach to the Romano-British Female Life Course
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UNIVERSITY OF READING A WOMAN’S WORLD: A BIOARCHAEOLGICAL APPROACH TO THE ROMANO-BRITISH FEMALE LIFE COURSE Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY SCHOOL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE CANDACE MCGOVERN JUNE 2019 DECLARATION OF ORIGIONAL AUTHORSHIP “I confirm that this is my own work and the use of all material from other sources has been properly and fully acknowledged. “ Candace McGovern ABSTRACT This thesis examines Romano-British women using a life course approach and from a holistic perspective by combining archaeological, historical and biological information. Within the female life course three physical events or transitions occur which directly relate to shifts within society: puberty, childbirth and menopause. These transitions were explored using 436 females between the ages of 10.0 and 44.9 from 11 southern Romano-British urban centres. These sites are of different legal status and size, with some examples bordering between urban and rural, providing insights into the lower status and local populations as well as towns of higher legal status. All individuals are dated to the later (2nd – 5th century) Roman period. The Females between 10.0 and 24.9 years of age were included within the puberty subsample (n=136) and placed into six categories ranging from Initiation to Completion. Puberty primarily took place over 5 years with a mean age for menarche of 14.1 years. The shape and development of the pelvis also directly impacts a successful pregnancy and vaginal birth. Based on measurements of the pelvic inlet, midplane and outlet, 398 females were assigned to three categories: no contraction, at-risk and high risk. Within the sample, 100% (n=12) of females aged 13.0-15.9 years and 78.6% (n=11) of those between 16.0 and 17.9 years were contracted. Therefore, is highly unlikely that women under 18 years were frequently able to deliver vaginally. The developmental obstetric dilemma (DOD) hypothesis was investigated through pelvis typology and pelvimetry. Pathologies and morphological changes associated with obstetrics including prematurely fused coccyx and osteophyte growth were also examined as potential hazards. Stature, body mass (BM) and Body Mass Index (BMI) were determined based on femoral measurements. This research is the first to explore the female life course using a bioarchaeological approach to puberty and childbirth. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take the opportunity to extend my deepest appreciation to Dr Mary Lewis and Dr Hella Eckardt for their relentless support and ongoing encouragement. Without their mentorship as females in academia and general supervision, this project would not have been possible. Additionally, access to skeletal collections was a vital to carrying out research and I would like to extend my gratitude to all the curators who assisted with accessing collections and tracking down skeletons including Keith Fitzpatrick-Mathews (North Hertfordshire District Council Museums Service), Dr Jo Buckberry (Biological Anthropology Research Centre at the University of Bradford), James Harris (Corinium Museum), Dr Simon Mays (English Heritage), Glynn Davis (Colchester Museums), along with many the individuals at the Natural History Museum of London and Hampshire Cultural Trust. Finally, for the invaluable support I would like to extend my deepest thanks for the friendship, laughter, love and ongoing reassurance to my fellow PhD students along with my friends and family. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF ORIGIONAL AUTHORSHIP ............................................................................. I ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................................... II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................... III LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................... VI LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................... VII 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 BACKGROUND AND RATIONAL .................................................................................................... 1 1.2 RESEARCH AIMS .......................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 OUTLINE ..................................................................................................................................... 3 2 ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL APPROACHES TO THE LIVES OF ROMAN WOMEN ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 FEMINIST AND GENDER THEORY................................................................................................. 5 2.3 FEMINIST THEORY IN ARCHAEOLOGY ......................................................................................... 7 2.4 LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE ....................................................................................................... 18 2.5 AGEING ..................................................................................................................................... 20 2.6 ROMAN INFLUENCE IN BRITAIN ................................................................................................ 23 2.7 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 25 3 THE GENDERED ROMAN LIFE COURSE .............................................................................. 27 3.1 STATUS OF ROMAN WOMEN ...................................................................................................... 27 3.2 ROMAN CONCEPT OF AGEING ................................................................................................... 28 3.3 EARLY YEARS ........................................................................................................................... 29 3.4 ADOLESCENCE .......................................................................................................................... 40 3.5 ADULTHOOD ............................................................................................................................. 45 3.6 OLD AGE ................................................................................................................................... 61 3.7 DEATH ...................................................................................................................................... 62 3.8 THE “OTHERS” .......................................................................................................................... 62 3.9 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 63 4 CLINICAL APPROACHES TO PUBERTY AND CHILDBIRTH ........................................... 65 4.1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 65 4.2 PUBERTY ................................................................................................................................... 65 4.3 PREGNANCY .............................................................................................................................. 75 4.4 MECHANISM OF LABOUR .......................................................................................................... 79 4.5 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 88 5 MATERIALS AND METHODS.................................................................................................... 90 5.1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 90 iv 5.2 MATERIALS ............................................................................................................................... 90 5.3 METHODS ................................................................................................................................ 108 6 RESULTS ...................................................................................................................................... 123 6.1 DEMOGRAPHICS ...................................................................................................................... 123 6.2 RESULTS OF METHODS TESTING ............................................................................................. 124 6.3 LIFE COURSE ANALYSIS- PUBERTY IN ROMAN BRITAIN .......................................................... 127 6.4 LIFE COURSE ANALYSIS- CHILDBIRTH IN ROMAN BRITAIN ..................................................... 140 7 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................ 162 7.1 LIMITATIONS ..........................................................................................................................