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The white arrow points to suspected cancer metastases from the spine of a skeleton unearthed from a medieval cemetery.
Photo: Jenna Dittmar/University of Cambridge
Cancer may have been a bigger menace in medieval times than previously assumed, new research this week suggests. The study, based on X-ray and CT scans of preserved bones, estimates that around one in every 10 residents of medieval Britain died with cancer in their body.
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The first recorded accounts of cancer date back to Ancient Egypt more than 5,000 years ago. But it’s long been thought that cancer remained relatively rare in humans until modern times, in large part due to our longer lifespans. Other trends that began to emerge in the 18th century, like exposure to more environmental pollutants as industrialization expanded and the increased popularity of smoking, probably played a part, too.
A new paper published in the
American Journal of Physical Anthropology presents the results of a study of the bones of “314 individuals dating from the 10
th to the 14
th century,” excavated from three burial sites in Cambridge. The skeletal samples were taken from a parish graveyard where working people were buried, a hospital graveyard where the infirm and destitute were buried, and from an Augustinian friary where wealthy sponsors were interred beside rich clergymen. The researchers studied the levels of skeletal trauma in the skeletons, which they say indicated the hardship endured in life.” Their paper concludes that “ social inequality is recorded on the bones of Cambridge’s medieval residents”.