Jakten på det svunna Löddeköpinge. En studie av hälsa, karakteriserad av artros, kroppslängd samt trauma, i det medeltida Löddeköpinge

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to assess the state of health of the individuals living in Löddeköpinge during the middle ages, whose remains were excavated by Chintio, H., 1975-80. The location is thought to have been a trading community that ceased to flourish towards the end of the Viking age. The main focus of the essay is to examine the occurrence of osteoarthritis (sv. artros), trauma, and analysis of stature, in order to understand population health during this time period. Osteoarthritis has never been researched in Löddeköpinge and the analysis showed that, of the 60 skeletons examined, 68,3% demonstrated some change in the skeletal joints, which is much higher than in the comparative material obtained from Lund and Sigtuna. Trauma was found in 5%, which is slightly lower than in the comparative material. The stature had previously been thought of as being unusually short in the community, but this analysis revealed that with revised methods in sex determination, the average height will rise accordingly, indicating that there has been no nutritional crisis in the town resulting from the change in lifestyle from trading to an agricultural population. A conclusion was drawn that it is not possible, in this case, to understand the health in Löddeköpinge because of the few indicators.