Regional and Temporal Differences in Disease, Trauma, and Mortality in Iron Age Britain

Abstract

The British Iron Age (eighth to first centuries B.C.) is characterized by agrarian communities who were regionally diverse and highly distinctive. In this study, we explored three new research questions about these communities using data derived from the primary inhumations of Middle Iron Age (400–100 B.C.) Yorkshire and Early to Late Iron Age Dorset (eighth century B.C. to early–mid first century A.D.) and a range of statistical approaches: did they differ in terms of survivorship and experiences of stress and disease? Did non-locals and locals have different outcomes? Were there any regional differences with respect to peri- and antemortem trauma? Our results indicate that survivorship and mortality varied by region and age-group, with non-adults in Yorkshire having higher survivorship and lower hazards of death, with the reverse true for Dorset non-adults. We find significant differences in skeletal pathologies between regions for non- adults and adults, particularly for tuberculosis. The comparison of non-locals and locals did not provide clear results, a reflection of the small sample size. Yorkshire, renowned for its martial material culture and burials, was expected to have higher frequencies of peri- and antemortem trauma, but unexpectedly, this was found for Dorset. Overall, our study finds that the complex lived realities of these communities created different outcomes for their members. It also provides evidence for regional differences in disease, survivorship and hazard of death existing prior to the Roman conquest.