Helping to shine light on the Dark Ages: Applying the bioarchaeology of care approach to remains from the early Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Worthy Park

Abstract

Objective

To test the hypothesis that a bioarchaeological focus on health-related care provision can contribute to the currently limited understanding of social practice in Early Anglo-Saxon England (mid5th-early7th centuries AD).

Materials

Published descriptions of pathology in 69 adult remains from the Early Anglo-Saxon cemetery of Worthy Park, southern England.

Methods

Three case studies (one examining likely need for care at an individual level and two at a population level) were undertaken using the bioarchaeology of care approach.

Results

Analyses indicate likely care provision (‘direct support’ and/or ‘accommodation of difference’) to Worthy Park individuals experiencing temporary or permanent disability. Interpretation suggests community interdependence, cooperation, flexibility and tolerance of difference, as well as cultural and socioeconomic mechanisms for managing physical and social challenges of ageing.

Conclusions

This study provides proof of concept that bioarchaeology of care analysis can offer new insights into social practice in this period.

Significance

This study demonstrates that a bioarchaeological focus on caregiving behaviours in an Early Anglo-Saxon community extends modern thinking about social relations in post-Roman Britain, offering a model for future investigations into social practice in this, and potentially other, periods. More generally, it illustrates the richness of results achievable when combining bioarchaeological and historical research.

Limitations

Reliance on secondary sources limited detail (and potentially accuracy) of interpretation possible.

Suggestions for further research

This study’s approach should be further tested and refined, either through application to different Anglo-Saxon (or other historic) populations or in a more thorough analysis of the Worthy Park sample itself.