New chemical analyzes: What did Danes and Italians in the Middle Ages
have in common?

Date:
July 15, 2020
Source:
University of Southern Denmark
Summary:
Chemists have analyzed bones from a Danish and an Italian cemetery,
casting light on the lives of nobles and common people in the
north and the south of Europe.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
In the 1600s, two private chapels were erected as family burial sites
for two noble families. One in the town Svendborg in Denmark, the other
in Montella, Italy. They were both attached to a Franciscan Friary, and
only a few meters from the chapels, more common townspeople and friars
were buried in the cloister walks.


==========================================================================
Now scientists have had access to the earthly remains of both the noble families and the less fortunate in Svendborg and Montella, and this
gives an intriguing insight into what these people consumed while they
were alive.

"We expected to find common features for the two different social classes,
and we did so -- in part. But we also found similarities and differences
that are not linked to social status," says professor of archaeometry,
Kaare Lund Rasmussen, University of Southern Denmark.

The researchers looked for a number of specific trace elements and heavy
metals in the bone samples: Strontium, barium, lead, copper and mercury.

Common to these elements is that their presence in bones reveal
information about a person's diet and what that person's mouth has been
in touch with during his or her life.

Less strontium and barium were found in the bones from the noble chapels compared to the bones from the cloister walks.



========================================================================== These two trace elements are most often ingested through food, and the
low levels in the nobles indicate that they ate more animal meat. This
makes good sense, because meat in both Italy and Denmark was a more
expensive than for example cereals and porridge.

The copper content in the Danish bones is significantly lower than in
the Italian -- both in those from the chapels and the cloister walks.

"This can be explained by the fact that the Danes did not prepare food
in copper pots and vessels -- and conversely, that the Italians did it diligently, regardless of their social status," Kaare Lund Rasmussen
comments.

When cooking or storing food in copper pots, knives and spoons may scrape
off small amounts of copper, which are then consumed with the food, and
thus the body can accumulate copper over time. The copper level was 21
times higher in the Italians than in the Danes.

Both the Danish and Italian noble families had more lead in the bones
than the less wealthy -- the Danes slightly more than the Italians.



========================================================================== "High lead concentrations indicate high social status. We have also seen
that from other studies," says Kaare Lund Rasmussen.

Lead had many uses in the Middle Ages, and especially the wealthy
could afford it: It was used to glaze earthenware: kitchen utensils
could consist of pure lead; lead salts were added to wine to inhibit fermentation, and lead sheets were used as roofing with the result that collected rainwater came to contain some lead.

Kaare Lund Rasmussen has previously shown that the ancient Romans and
wealthy Germans and Danes in the Middle Ages could be more or less
permanently sick with lead poisoning from consuming too much food and
drink that had been in contact with lead.

Mercury was a widespread remedy for diseases such as leprosy and syphilis
in the Middle Ages. The analyzes show that at least a handful of the noble Italian Iannelli family members ingested mercury in their lifetime. None
of the skeletons from the Italian cloister walk contained mercury.

In Denmark, the distribution of mercury was more equal.

"It seems that both social groups in Denmark had equal access to mercury containing medicine. However, none of them exhibited particularly high
levels." About the study: The researchers took 87 samples, mainly from
femoral bones from 69 individuals.

17 from the chapel and 34 from the cloister walk in Montella. 7 from
the chapel and 14 from the cloister walk in Svendborg.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_Southern_Denmark. Original written by Birgitte
Svennevig. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Kaare Lund Rasmussen, Thomas Delbey, Paolo d'Imporzano, Lilian
Skytte,
Simone Schiavone, Marielva Torino, Peter Tarp, Per Orla Thomsen.

Comparison of trace element chemistry in human bones interred in
two private chapels attached to Franciscan friaries in Italy and
Denmark: an investigation of social stratification in two medieval
and post-medieval societies. Heritage Science, 2020; 8 (1) DOI:
10.1186/s40494-020-00407-x ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200715111445.htm

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