Objective

This study examines the evidence of three skeletal markers of childhood health that leave permanent observable changes in the adult skeleton during two climate events, the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) and the Little Ice Age (LIA) that occurred in the medieval period (1050–1536 CE).

Material

A total of 241 adult skeletons from the Danish medieval period were included.

Methods

Linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) was examined macroscopically. Harris lines (HL) and infectious middle ear disease (IMED) were examined from CT imaging. The skeletons were segregated by the mortuary pattern of arm position that coincidentally changes between the MWP to the LIA.

Results

LEH and IMED increase in frequency from the MWP to the LIA while there is a reverse trend for HL.

Significance: This is the first study that examines childhood health as reflected on skeletal remains of adults using a combination of CT imaging and macroscopic examination for temporal changes in the medieval period.

Limitations

The study did not include any sub-adults due to limitation of methods, i.e. the method of IMED is not yet developed to assess sub-adults. Neither was time-of-occurrence for the skeletal marker included as there is conflicting information from different methods for HL and neither has it been developed yet for IMED.

Suggestions for further research

A sample of sub-adults from both time periods could be compared by sub-adult mortality, as well as for differences in the timing of skeletal age markers.

中文翻译：

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丹麦中世纪小冰期时期儿童健康状况的时间变化。

目的

本研究调查了儿童健康的三个骨骼标志物的证据，该标志物在中世纪时期（1050-1995年）发生的两个气候事件中，在中世纪的暖和期（MWP）和小冰期（LIA）留下了可观察到的永久变化。公元1536年）。

材料

总共包括了来自丹麦中世纪时期的241个成年骨骼。

方法

肉眼检查线性釉质发育不全（LEH）。从CT成像检查了哈里斯系（HL）和传染性中耳疾病（IMED）。骨骼是通过MWP与LIA之间同时发生变化的手臂位置的架模式隔离的。

结果

LEH和IMED从MWP到LIA的频率增加，而HL有相反的趋势。

启示：这是第一项研究，通过结合CT成像和宏观检查对中世纪时期的时间变化进行检查，研究了反映在成年人骨骼上的儿童健康状况。

局限性

由于方法的限制，该研究未包括任何亚成人，即尚未开发IMED方法来评估亚成人。也没有包括骨骼标志物的发生时间，因为来自不同方法的HL信息存在冲突，并且尚未针对IMED进行开发。

进一步研究的建议

可以通过亚成人死亡率以及骨骼年龄标记的时机差异来比较两个时期的亚成人样本。