In Medieval England, those who experienced and survived nutritional stress in childhood suffered from higher mortality risk in middle and later adulthood. This is according to a recent study from CU Boulder Professor of Anthropology and Institute of Behavioral Science (IBS) Faculty and Fellow, Sharon DeWitte. DeWitte will discuss her bioarchaeological research at our upcoming IBS Speaker Series on December 2.
- Who: Sharon DeWitte, professor of anthropology and IBS faculty and fellow
- When: Monday, December 2 from 12 – 1 p.m. MT
- Where: Richard Jessor 155A or via Zoom (email ibs-contact@colorado.edu for passcode)
- Field: Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, Bioarchaeology
For her talk, DeWitte will clarify health patterns in the medieval period related to famine and nutritional stress. Her research used demographic and pathological data collected from human skeletal remains from the medieval period, combined with isotope data on diet. DeWitte’s findings reflect a potential environmental mismatch between early development and later life conditions in Medieval England.
“These findings suggest that the relationship between stressful childhood environments and increased risks of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other adult health conditions that has been observed in present-day populations might have also existed in the medieval period,” – Sharon DeWitte
The IBS Speaker Series is open to all CU Boulder faculty, staff, and students as well as the public. This talk is cohosted by the Population Program, the Health and Society Program, and the CU Population Center at the Institute of Behavioral Science.
This talk is specifically of interest for people who:
- Want to explore the effects of developmental stress on health across the life course
- Are interested in historical demography and mortality crises (famine and plague) in the past
- Are interested in the kinds of information about our lives that get inscribed in our bodies
DeWitte is a leader in bioarchaeology and bioarchaeological research, specializing in the Black Death and other medieval crises. She examines various stress indicators in human skeletal remains from well-preserved, ethical excavations in England. DeWitte takes a holistic approach to her investigations, examining both the data from remains as well as people’s environment, religious and cultural context, and access to resources. It is through this multifaceted lens that DeWitte arrives at her findings, which broaden our understanding of the past and impact our understanding of health patterns today.
You can read more about DeWitte in a recent article with CUBT:
