Sökandet efter aktivitet - En osteologisk analys av St. Jakobs medeltida kyrkogård i Lund utifrån osteoartros, entesopatier och asymmetri

Sammanfattning: The aim of this bachelor thesis is to ascertain the value of osteoarthritis, enthesopathies in the upper extremities and humeral asymmetry as markers of activity, and their individual relation towards gender, age and social status. A total of 96 skeletons from the medieval cemetery of St. Jakob’s church in Lund was analysed. The analysis concluded that both men and women seem to have preferred to use their right side, and men’s shoulders were more widely used whereas women’s wrists were more affected. However, the left side was more stricken by osteoarthritis. Both osteoarthritis and enthesopathies increased with age and seem to have some correlation with each other. On the other hand, humeral asymmetry did not show any correlation with either osteoarthritis or enthesopathies. The people that were buried in St. Jakob’s cemetery does not seem to have been segregated spatially over the cemetery in terms of different levels of physical stress. With the osteological paradox in mind, the frequency of skeletal lesions suggest that this may have been a healthy, moderately stressed population.