Locating the Lower Class. Using Osteoarthritis to discover social differentiation in St Peter's Church Cemetery, 950 AD - 1855 AD

This study will answer the question: can we discover social differentiation in cemeteries using joint diseases such as osteoarthritis (OA) after correlating social status with burial positioning? In order to successfully carry out this research, the relationship between status and burial positioning had to be confirmed. Individuals of different statuses often differ in their burial treatment. To discover if joint diseases could be used as a proxy for finding social differentiation, OA is linked to status. Lower classes could have had more mechanical stress in their joints because of hard physical labour, resulting in a higher OA prevalence within this group. This theory could now be tested on a cemetery, for which St Peter’s Church Cemetery in Barton-upon-Humber is used. A big cemetery with almost a thousand years of occupation, from 950 AD to 1855 AD, which makes it a perfect case study for a study like this. Five different cemetery phases (grouped A to E) are analysed individually...Show moreThis study will answer the question: can we discover social differentiation in cemeteries using joint diseases such as osteoarthritis (OA) after correlating social status with burial positioning? In order to successfully carry out this research, the relationship between status and burial positioning had to be confirmed. Individuals of different statuses often differ in their burial treatment. To discover if joint diseases could be used as a proxy for finding social differentiation, OA is linked to status. Lower classes could have had more mechanical stress in their joints because of hard physical labour, resulting in a higher OA prevalence within this group. This theory could now be tested on a cemetery, for which St Peter’s Church Cemetery in Barton-upon-Humber is used. A big cemetery with almost a thousand years of occupation, from 950 AD to 1855 AD, which makes it a perfect case study for a study like this. Five different cemetery phases (grouped A to E) are analysed individually. This study looked at sex and age distribution, and correlated this to burial positioning. Two main methods are used. First the burials inside the church are compared with burials outside the church. Secondly, different fields outside the church are compared to each other. The comparisons are also statistically tested and furthermore each grave is marked on a burial plan. This resulted in excellent overviews of the OA prevalence in the cemetery. Some patterning is discovered, suggesting that the burial locations of different social classes are not distributed at random. In using these methods, the main question of the thesis could be answered. Osteoarthritis can be used to discover social differentiation on St Peter’s Church Cemetery. Therefore, the theory of using joint diseases to discover social differentiation in cemeteries after correlating social status with burial positioning, turned out to be reliable. However, it must be used in combination with other disciplines and resources to strengthen its reliability.Show less

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Locating the Lower Class. Using Osteoarthritis to discover social differentiation in St Peter's Church Cemetery, 950 AD - 1855 AD