Examining the Life Course of Disabled and Chronically Ill Individuals and their Access to Healthcare in Roman Britain
María Serrano Ruber
Supervisor: Dr. Jess Beck
Funding: UCD Ad Astra Scholarship
Abstract:
While archaeological investigations often overlook the lives of disabled individuals, it is crucial to recognise that impairment was an integral part of life in the past, just as it is today. This PhD project seeks to shift the lens towards this overlooked demographic by employing osteoarchaeological and bioarchaeological methods to examine the life course of disabled and chronically ill individuals and their access to healthcare in Roman Britain. This will include the creation of a localised and ancient definition of disability, as the concept itself is an anachronism for the time.
An “average” local life course will be developed by performing macroscopic osteological analyses, through which the most commonly observed lesions and conditions in the skeletal collection will be noted as being an expected part of the life course, Once the local average life course has been established, it will be possible to identify outliers, which may indeed have been considered disabled, thus allowing us to formulate an ancient definition of disability. These results will furthermore be investigated in terms of variations in levels of healthcare throughout different demographic categories, including age, biological sex, and social status, which we expect to see in a highly stratified society such as Roman Britain.
This study specifically focuses on Roman Irchester, a town in modern day Northamptonshire, UK, as its case study. The Middle Nene Valley, in which Irchester sits, is a region with an abundant archaeological record of Roman occupation, and this study will focus on Irchester’s 3-4th century skeletal collection excavated in the town’s cemeteries. By combining methodologies from archaeological science, including paleopathology, dietary isotope analyses, and biomechanical loadbearing, with the Index of Care strategy, I create a holistic understanding of disabled lives in the past that will contribute to our understanding of disability and identity in Roman Britain as a whole.
To get in touch, please contact
(opens in a new window)maria.serranoruber@ucdconnect.ie