Episode 70: What we can learn about medieval people from their bones and teeth. A conversation with Professor Alison Beach

And now for something completely different! In this episode, we are not going to be talking about kings or popes, crusades, wars, or political events. Instead, we will be examining the life experiences of ordinary medieval people uncovered through analysis of their skeletal remains. 

This field of historical research is known as osteobiography. Osteobiography is the reconstruction of an individual's life story from his or her skeletal remains. It treats bones and teeth as a text that sheds light on an individual's health, diet, disease, trauma, occupation, migrations, and social status. This might sound familiar to some of you who remember the television show Bones. But the purpose here is not to solve crimes but to understand lives. 

I am very fortunate to have as my very special guest to explain what we can learn about medieval people from their skeletal remains, Dr. Alison Beach, Professor of Medieval History at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. Alison is the Principal Investigator and Historical Researcher for “Word of Mouth: Embodied Stories of Premodern Women at Work”—I love the puns—or, as it is more popularly known, TeamNun. She heads a team of historians, archaeologists, and scientists dedicated to reconstructing the lives of medieval religious woman through analysis of their skeletal remains. In this episode, Alison will tell us about two osteobiographies her team is working on. What makes these individuals especially interesting is that they both suffered from disabilities that did not preclude long lives. Apparently, medieval empathy is not an oxymoron!

(You can learn more about TeamNun at https://www.teamnun.org/about-1)

Listen on Podurama https://podurama.com

Intro and exit music are by Alexander Nakarada

If you have questions, feel free to contact me at richard.abels54@gmail.com