Paleopathology and Health in Medieval Oslo: An osteological analysis of the pathologies present in the skeletal remains from St. Nicholas Church, Oslo and a comparison to contemporary London

Abstract

This thesis examines the health and living conditions in Medieval Oslo, and test how they compare to the health and living conditions Medieval London. Medieval London was much larger than Medieval Oslo and at one point it had roughly 25 times as many inhabitants. Through this it is examine if the size of the Medieval town affected the health of its inhabitants. This has been done through non-destructive osteological analysis of the individuals from St. Nicholas Church from Oslo and the data was then compared to data from the Dominican Friary Carter Lane, London. A smaller percentage of the individuals from Oslo had any pathologies than the individuals from London had, and more of the pathologies from London are associated with various dietary deficiencies and contaminations of their living environment.