RESHARED POST FROM JEFF BAKER

Jeff Baker originally shared this post:

Interesting post on the impact that the Roman conquest had on British people. There were changes in burial patterns, and, an increase in infectious and metabolic diseases. Evidence for trauma declines.

No reason is given for the increase in disease, but several possibilities spring to mind: (1) Increased contact with people from across Europe (and the Roman Empire) increased the introduction of diseases into England; (2) To meet the Roman tribute demands, the workload increased, which had an adverse effect on the immunologic system of the population.

Because the effect was most pronounced in males, and those who suffered stress-related pathologies, I would suspect that second of these two hypotheses might be the more significant factor.

Bones4Culture: The history of ordinary people : Past Horizons Archaeology

A new project has begun to analyse population, life, health and culture of the people that lived in the German-Danish border lands during the Middle Ages (AD 1050 – 1536). The Interreg-project Bones4C…