Sexual division of labour in rural 17th to 19th century Holland: A study of limb bone cross-sectional geometry

In the summer of 2011, archaeologists from Leiden University excavated the post-Medieval cemetery site of Middenbeemster, the Netherlands. The Middenbeemster skeletal collection provides unique research possibilities due to the availability of detailed historical information on a portion of the excavated individuals. The discovery of a historical map of the cemetery allows for the identification of all individuals buried after 1829, providing age at death, sex, and socioeconomic status. This study applies biomechanical models to cross-sections of human limb bones in order to assess the variability in the habitual activities that were practised by the male and female inhabitants of the Beemster polder from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Cross-sections were obtained by Computed Tomography Scanning of lower and upper limb bones followed by digital sectioning. By combining historical data and the principles of bone functional adaptation, a reconstruction of life on one of...Show moreIn the summer of 2011, archaeologists from Leiden University excavated the post-Medieval cemetery site of Middenbeemster, the Netherlands. The Middenbeemster skeletal collection provides unique research possibilities due to the availability of detailed historical information on a portion of the excavated individuals. The discovery of a historical map of the cemetery allows for the identification of all individuals buried after 1829, providing age at death, sex, and socioeconomic status. This study applies biomechanical models to cross-sections of human limb bones in order to assess the variability in the habitual activities that were practised by the male and female inhabitants of the Beemster polder from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Cross-sections were obtained by Computed Tomography Scanning of lower and upper limb bones followed by digital sectioning. By combining historical data and the principles of bone functional adaptation, a reconstruction of life on one of the first polders is attempted. Results show that the presence of a sexual division of labour where the males were generally more mobile than females, and performed more strenuous manual activities. The males were very similar in limb bone strength and shape, but the female sample showed a high amount of variability. While a portion of the females were relatively gracile, other females showed very robust lower and upper limb bones indicating high mobility and strenuous manual labour. This indicates that economic roles were not the same for all females in the seventeenth to nineteenth century Beemster polder. The current study represents the first time that cross-sectional geometric analysis has been applied to a Dutch archaeological population. The results obtained from the current study are therefore a valuable contribution to the international fields of bioarchaeology and biological anthropology.Show less

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Sexual division of labour in rural 17th to 19th century Holland: A study of limb bone cross-sectional geometry