The Past People of Exeter: Health and Status in the Middle Ages

Abstract

This thesis explores the skeletal health and socio-economic status across Exeter’s medieval population. Excavation and historical sources illustrate the founding and development of Exeter as a city. However, little is known about the people who made that development possible, those who lived, worked and died there. The presence of a large collection of human skeletal remains (n=463) from Exeter is particularly important, considering that bone frequently does not survive well in the acidic soils of Devon. The analysis of this large collection of skeletal remains, from different periods and burial locations across medieval Exeter, is unparalleled. Combining the osteological analysis with archaeological and historical data, has enabled this study to form a synthesized and comprehensive picture of Exeter’s medieval past, greatly increasing our knowledge of the health and status of this population. It was observed that during the Late Anglo-Saxon period, the less urbanised population of Exeter had an adequate diet supplemented with marine resources. They had few indicators of skeletal stress, but a lower age-of-death profile than the later-medieval population. The differences seen in skeletal health between Exeter’s later-medieval groups were in no way marked and more marginal than expected, considering the differences in burial location and type. Although, the females buried at the Dominican friary and St Katherine’s Priory do appear to have led a more genteel and less physically demanding life, whilst a more diverse population were buried at later medieval Cathedral Green. Overall, the majority of individuals studied from Exeter’s medieval population had adequate to good nutrition, health, status and longevity.