IMC 2022: Sessions

Session 516: Breaking Down Disciplinary Borders: Connecting Historical and Archaeological Research, I - Parasites in Medieval Societies

Organiser:	Claire Burridge, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge
Moderator/Chair:	Claire Burridge, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge
Paper 516-a	Parasites in Medieval Europe: Archaeology and Texts (Language: English) Piers D. Mitchell, Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge Index terms: Archaeology - General, Daily Life, Medicine
Paper 516-b	Comparing Intestinal Parasites in Augustinian Friars and the General Population of Medieval Cambridge (Language: English) Tianyi Wang, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge Index terms: Archaeology - General, Daily Life, Medicine, Religious Life
Paper 516-c	Parasites in the Low Countries in the Medieval Period (Language: English) Sophie Rabinow, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge Index terms: Archaeology - General, Archaeology - Sites, Daily Life, Medicine
Abstract	The proposed session presents archaeological and textual evidence to explore how intestinal health and disease varied across the borders that existed in medieval Europe. To introduce the topic we explain how parasites are spread, how they affect us, and how variation in species across medieval Europe occurred due to diet and climate. We then compare parasites in Augustinian friars and the general inhabitants of the same English town to assess the impact of monastic life, and investigate how lifestyle affected parasitism in the key trading centres of Bruges, Ghent, Brussels, and Delft in the Low Countries.