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Post-Medieval Poverty: an Integrated Investigation

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Post-medieval Poverty: An Integrated Investigation Keri Elizabeth Rowsell PhD University of York Archaeology September 2018 Abstract This study stemmed from our contested state of knowledge regarding under- and malnutrition in long-18th century England. The project aims to connect environment, nutrition and health, through the combined approach of osteological, biomolecular and historical research methods, and was motivated by three main research questions: (1) Is the potential scurvy biomarker identified during earlier work a true marker for scurvy in Human Skeletal Remains (HSR)? (2) Can we track potato consumption (a good source of Vitamin C) during this period through evidence of potato starch granules in human dental calculus? (3) Can we use a combination of HSR and historical documentary evidence to trace dietary and social change? A variety of different methods for extracting collagen from HSR were systematically tested, and a new technique has subsequently been established. This was applied to HSR from five post- medieval sites. These extractions - along with those of control samples - were run using MALDI-TOF-MS, and the resulting data analysed to a level of detail that has not previously been carried out, in the search for a scurvy biomarker. These analyses ruled out the potential biomarker, but revealed information that may help with the biomolecular identification of scurvy in the future. Dental calculus samples from individuals buried at one of the sites included here were analysed using light microscopy, but this element of the project was terminated as the data that could be produced was of limited use to the central research questions. Historical documentary evidence related to the sites included here has revealed the complexity of the factors influencing burial ground demographics. All five sites were identified by archaeologists as being linked to ‘poverty’, but this is an oversimplification when historical debate is taken into account. Throughout, this project evidences the benefits of a wider adoption of interdisciplinary approaches to historical research questions. 2 List of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................. 2 List of Contents ................................................................................................. 3 List of Tables ..................................................................................................... 6 List of Figures ................................................................................................... 7 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... 12 Declaration ...................................................................................................... 14 Chapter One: Introduction ........................................................................... 15 Background to the Project .................................................................................... 15 Outline of the Project ............................................................................................ 17 Aims and Objectives ........................................................................................... 17 The Relevance and Importance of the Project .................................................... 19 Thesis Structure ................................................................................................... 20 Chapter Two: Research Context - Methods of Extraction ......................... 23 The Structure of Collagen ..................................................................................... 23 The Role of Vitamin C in Collagen Synthesis and Proline Hydroxylation ...... 26 Bone Turnover Rates of Collagen ........................................................................ 27 A Brief History of Collagen Extraction from Archaeological Bone ................. 30 The Future of Collagen Extraction from Archaeological Bone ........................ 33 Collagen Extraction in Relation to the Study of Scurvy .................................... 35 Discussion & Conclusions ..................................................................................... 37 Chapter Three: Systematic Method Development ...................................... 39 Phase One ............................................................................................................... 41 Materials .............................................................................................................. 41 Methods ............................................................................................................... 42 Results & Discussion .......................................................................................... 47 Phase Two ............................................................................................................... 51 Materials .............................................................................................................. 51 Chemicals and Equipment ................................................................................... 53 Methods ............................................................................................................... 54 Results & Discussion .......................................................................................... 56 Chapter Conclusions ............................................................................................. 58 Chapter Four: Research Context - Diet and Scurvy in England ............... 61 Diet .......................................................................................................................... 62 Nutrition and its Effects on Health ...................................................................... 62 The McKeown Debate ........................................................................................ 63 Percentage of Household Budget Spent on Food ................................................ 67 Access to Food Outside of the Cash Economy ................................................... 68 Potato Consumption ............................................................................................ 71 Optimists vs. Pessimists in the History of Diet ................................................... 73 Scurvy ..................................................................................................................... 77 Writing the History of a Disease ......................................................................... 77 What do we mean by ‘scurvy’? ........................................................................... 79 Scurvy in the Bills of Mortality ........................................................................... 79 Antiscorbutic Remedies in Long Eighteenth Century England .......................... 81 3 General Historical Focus of Scurvy Studies in England ..................................... 83 Land Scurvy in England During the Long-Eighteenth Century .......................... 85 Palaeopathology of Scurvy .................................................................................. 86 A Lack of (Land) Scurvy in the Archaeological and Historical Records ........... 89 Scurvy from a Biomolecular Perspective ............................................................ 92 Discussion and Conclusions .................................................................................. 93 Chapter Five: Research Context - the Site Backgrounds ........................... 95 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 95 Comparing Demographics at the Different Sites ................................................ 98 Age ...................................................................................................................... 98 Sex ..................................................................................................................... 101 Palaeopathology – Scurvy ................................................................................. 109 Research Contexts of the Five Sites ................................................................... 113 St Thomas’ Hospital .......................................................................................... 115 Farringdon St Bride’s Lower ............................................................................. 121 Cross Bones ....................................................................................................... 126 Bow Baptists ..................................................................................................... 133 Priory Yard, Norwich ........................................................................................ 138 Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 146 Chapter Six: The Search for a Scurvy Biomarker .................................... 148 Establishing the Peptide Possibilities ................................................................. 149 Filtering the Peptide List .................................................................................... 152 Applying the Peptide List to Archaeological Data ........................................... 153 LC-MS/MS Analysis - Round One ..................................................................... 161 Eppendorfs vs Falcon Tubes ..............................................................................
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