Archaeologists Uncover The Skeleton Of A Medieval Christian Pilgrim With LeprosyForbes
Kristina Killgrove, Jan 26, 2017 @ 02:01 PM
Burial of Sk27 in situ, showing the associated scallop shell. (Fig. 1 from Roffey et al., 2017, open access in PLoS Negl Trop Dis.)In a British cemetery dating back to the Norman Conquest, archaeologists have found a high number of skeletons affected by leprosy. One particular young man, though, was discovered with a pierced scallop shell -- could his bones and burial reveal his status as a religious pilgrim affected by leprosy?
The site of St. Mary Magdalen in Winchester was a leprosarium -- a leprosy hospital that was founded shortly following the Norman Conquest in 1066 AD. As expected, a majority of the people buried there (86%) were found to have skeletal lesions of leprosy.
One grave, Sk27, contained the remains of a young man, around 18-25 at death. He was buried in an extended, supine position, with his right hand over his pelvis. The only artifact in this grave, which was cut to closely hug his body, was a scallop shell. The shell was pierced with two holes and found near his left hand.
This shell, Pecten maximus, intrigued researchers, since it is a traditional symbol of pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The young man's bones date to 1020-1162, and the 12th century was a prime era of religious pilgrimage in Europe. Did this pilgrim die in a Winchester leprosarium following a trip to Spain?
A study published today in
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases by University of Winchester archaeologist Simon Roffey and colleagues tackles that question using various lines of evidence. Together with researchers at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, and Surrey, Roffey found both DNA and stable isotope evidence to support the hypothesis that Sk27 was a religious pilgrim.
Sk27's foot bones suggested potential leprosy, and his teeth were covered with dental calculus, an abundance of sticky plaque that may have formed as a result of a poor dental hygiene, mushy hospital diet, and oral changes due to leprosy. But bones are the last thing affected by this disease -- Roffey and colleagues suggest that "the soft tissue manifestations of the disease, with associated inflammation and infection, were [likely] much more developed than the bony lesions."
Fig. 3, Sk27 skull showing heavy deposition of calculus on the left side of the mandibular and maxillary dentition. (Image from Roffey et al., 2017, open access in PLoS Negl Trop Dis.)DNA screening for Mycobacterium leprae, the organism that causes leprosy, was strongly positive in all the Sk27 samples. Even though his foot bones were insufficient evidence of the disease, the biochemical analysis revealed that he did indeed suffer from leprosy. But his skeleton held other secrets as well.
Stable isotope analyses were also performed on him -- carbon and nitrogen isotopes reveal information about past diets, while strontium and oxygen can tell whether someone was born locally or immigrated there later. Sk27's dietary isotopes showed that he ate a lot of protein, perhaps from seafood, and it was a richer diet than that of others buried at St. Mary Magdalen. Interestingly, although his facial features were somewhat anomalous compared to others, isotope analysis of his tooth enamel was not conclusive for long-distance immigration. Although he probably did not grow up in Winchester, he might have been from anywhere in northern Europe.
The combination of evidence in this research showcases the power of multiple strands of analysis. Bioarchaeologist Sharon DeWitte of the University of South Carolina tells me that the study "presents the total package - palaeopathological, biodemographic, cranial metric, ancient biomolecule, isotopic, and archaeological data to learn more about a Medieval pilgrim in a leprosarium cemetery. In one fell swoop, Roffey and colleagues demonstrate the full arsenal of approaches that can be used in the bioarchaeological analysis of individual experiences within a larger cultural context."
And medical historian Monica Green of Arizona State University says that "this study deserves praise in fully integrating a historian--and historical perspectives--into the scientific analysis. That the individual seems to have pilgrimaged to Santiago virtually guarantees that he was Christian, and the archaeological indications of upper-class privilege are intriguing."
Traveling to Santiago was one of the three great pilgrimages of the Medieval period, along with Jerusalem and Rome, and Santiago was the only place allowed to distribute scallop shell souvenirs. If we do accept this young man as a pilgrim, it raises another important question: did he perhaps make pilgrimages to shrines associated with cures and healing for his leprosy, or did he acquire leprosy on his pilgrimages and bring it back to England?
The specific strain of leprosy unfortunately does not help answer this. While Roffey and colleagues found that it belonged to the 2F lineage, which is found today in south-central and western Asia, a previous analysis by many of the same researchers revealed several other individuals in this Medieval British cemetery also had the type 2F strain of leprosy. Green points out that "no M. leprae aDNA retrievals have yet been done for anywhere else in western Europe save for England, Denmark, and Sweden. We have no reason to infer at this point that Sk27's leprosy was acquired during a pilgrimage to Spain."
Green is intrigued by the fact that this individual is likely an immigrant but also tells me that she would be more persuaded by the interpretation of the man's immigrant status if human aDNA analysis had been performed rather than reliance on "impressionistic morphological analysis of the skull in determining his genetic affiliations."
No matter where Sk27 was from or where he contracted leprosy, though, this case study is a fascinating look at the antiquity of the disease. And it is excellently timed, DeWitte notes, "given that January 29, 2017, is World Leprosy Day, whose purpose is to increase awareness about a disease that has a long history of afflicting humans and still infects large numbers of people today." There were over 200,000 new cases worldwide in 2015, according to the World Health Organization, which means that leprosy, unlike poor Sk27, is far from extinct.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2017/01/26/skeleton-and-artifacts-expose-medieval-christian-pilgrim-with-leprosy/
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