Periodic Reporting for period 2 - DIS-ABLED (Past Lifeways and Deathways of the Disabled in 14th-18th Century Central Europe: an Interdisciplinary Study)
Période du rapport: 2020-08-01 au 2021-07-31
The three-year research project, whose acronym is ‘DIS-ABLED’, aims to reconstruct the lifeways and deathways of the disabled in 14th-18th century Central Europe. Archival research indicates that Central Europe offers unique and rich data in terms of archaeological, osteological, and textual materials for research on disability. The materials provide a rare look at particularly interesting socio-cultural aspects of disability.
There are currently between 785-975 million people (~ 20%) with disabilities worldwide. In the European Union, around 14% of the population aged 15-64 is registered as disabled. This indicates that the disabled are a significant part of the worldwide society.
Within the academic realm, disability studies aim to raise awareness and ensure the human rights of disabled people. While research has widened our understanding of contemporary disability, the lifeways and deathways of the disabled in the past is still little known. Disabilities are a critical element of the reconstruction of the past because conflict, punishment, accidents, diseases, inherited disorders and limited medical knowledge would have contributed to a significant number of physical impairments in the past.
The ‘DIS-ABLED’ project specifically explores these questions:
• Are the same diseases and conditions defined as disabilities in the past so defined now?
• How did people define disability and which afflictions were perceived as disabilities?
• How were the disabled treated in their societies?
• Did disabilities influence the manner of burial, e.g. atypical burials?
The answers to the above questions are found through the detailed study of skeletons and integration of these data with an extensive literature review on health, disease and disability. The project encompasses four fields: bioarchaeology, archaeology, history and ethnography. This approach embeds the project in the biohumanities which advocate a complementary and interdisciplinary approach connecting social studies and humanities with biology to study phenomena like disability.
The international project was based at the University of Liverpool in partnership with Arizona State University and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. The project was led by Dr Magdalena Matczak in collaboration with Dr Jessica Pearson, Professor Jane Buikstra and Professor Andrzej Marek Wyrwa.
This was the first large-scale interdisciplinary research project on disability in Central Europe. The project uncovered the heritage of disabled people from Central Europe that is part of European and global heritage. This project aimed to raise awareness of the disableds’ history and showed that the disabled are a significant part of society.
There are currently between 785-975 million people (~ 20%) with disabilities worldwide. In the European Union, around 14% of the population aged 15-64 is registered as disabled. This indicates that the disabled are a significant part of the worldwide society.
Within the academic realm, disability studies aim to raise awareness and ensure the human rights of disabled people. While research has widened our understanding of contemporary disability, the lifeways and deathways of the disabled in the past is still little known. Disabilities are a critical element of the reconstruction of the past because conflict, punishment, accidents, diseases, inherited disorders and limited medical knowledge would have contributed to a significant number of physical impairments in the past.
The ‘DIS-ABLED’ project specifically explores these questions:
• Are the same diseases and conditions defined as disabilities in the past so defined now?
• How did people define disability and which afflictions were perceived as disabilities?
• How were the disabled treated in their societies?
• Did disabilities influence the manner of burial, e.g. atypical burials?
The answers to the above questions are found through the detailed study of skeletons and integration of these data with an extensive literature review on health, disease and disability. The project encompasses four fields: bioarchaeology, archaeology, history and ethnography. This approach embeds the project in the biohumanities which advocate a complementary and interdisciplinary approach connecting social studies and humanities with biology to study phenomena like disability.
The international project was based at the University of Liverpool in partnership with Arizona State University and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. The project was led by Dr Magdalena Matczak in collaboration with Dr Jessica Pearson, Professor Jane Buikstra and Professor Andrzej Marek Wyrwa.
This was the first large-scale interdisciplinary research project on disability in Central Europe. The project uncovered the heritage of disabled people from Central Europe that is part of European and global heritage. This project aimed to raise awareness of the disableds’ history and showed that the disabled are a significant part of society.
Over the three years of the project, two extensive databases were built as well as the theoretical foundations of the research. Thirty texts from the medieval and modern periods were analysed during the fieldwork and a secondment in Poland. The textual analysis revealed which diseases and conditions were perceived as impairment and disability in the past. They include blindness, speech disorders, paralysis, congenital impairments, malunion fractures, and untreated dislocations. Textual analysis indicates that, in medieval Poland, the perception of people with impairments depended on social status and the reason for becoming impaired.
The training received at Arizona State University resulted in the analysis of skeletons during a research visit to Poland. The osteological analysis indicated various pathological lesions on skeletons from medieval and early modern periods in Łekno, Poland. The Łekno settlement complex consisted of a Cistercian monastery, the oldest in Polish lands, and a cemetery with around 400 burials. The founding document of the monastery from 1153 has been entered on the Polish National List of the UNESCO Memory of the World Program. The osteological analysis of skeletons from the cemetery indicated that degenerative joint disease was one of the most common bone changes. The advanced degenerative joint disease might have caused limited joint flexibility and chronic pain. It would become more evident as the age of the individuals progressed. Individuals could be regarded as sick or impaired and unable to work at the late stage of life, thus needing help and healing. The osteological analysis also helped identify skeletal dysplasia (achondroplasia and Léri–Weill dyschondrosteosis) of a male who lived in Łekno. The biogeochemical component (analysis of C and N stable isotopes) of the research included taking 150 samples to analyse the diet of disabled people from Łekno.
The outcomes of the project were presented at seven historical, archaeological and anthropological conferences in the UK, Poland, Germany, and Portugal. Multiple publications are in press and under preparation. The project activities and results were communicated through radio interviews and social media.
The training received at Arizona State University resulted in the analysis of skeletons during a research visit to Poland. The osteological analysis indicated various pathological lesions on skeletons from medieval and early modern periods in Łekno, Poland. The Łekno settlement complex consisted of a Cistercian monastery, the oldest in Polish lands, and a cemetery with around 400 burials. The founding document of the monastery from 1153 has been entered on the Polish National List of the UNESCO Memory of the World Program. The osteological analysis of skeletons from the cemetery indicated that degenerative joint disease was one of the most common bone changes. The advanced degenerative joint disease might have caused limited joint flexibility and chronic pain. It would become more evident as the age of the individuals progressed. Individuals could be regarded as sick or impaired and unable to work at the late stage of life, thus needing help and healing. The osteological analysis also helped identify skeletal dysplasia (achondroplasia and Léri–Weill dyschondrosteosis) of a male who lived in Łekno. The biogeochemical component (analysis of C and N stable isotopes) of the research included taking 150 samples to analyse the diet of disabled people from Łekno.
The outcomes of the project were presented at seven historical, archaeological and anthropological conferences in the UK, Poland, Germany, and Portugal. Multiple publications are in press and under preparation. The project activities and results were communicated through radio interviews and social media.
Diseases and conditions that were perceived as impairments in the medieval and modern periods have been identified. The integration of the results of the textual analysis with the results of the osteological analysis reveals which individuals were perceived as disabled in the medieval and modern periods in Poland. The detailed archaeological analysis helps to elucidate how these people were treated and what their social status was. This broadens our knowledge on the history and lives of disabled people.
‘DIS-ABLED’ engages in conversation about the environment (diet) and place of disabled people in society, which are current topics. Society, and in particular, people with disabilities and their relatives and friends, are potential beneficiaries of the project results. Schools for people with disabilities and people with disabilities shared press interviews and press notes about this research on their Facebook pages and profiles. This indicates interest in research on disability and its importance. The dissemination and communication of the results help integrate disabled people more into their societies and might help form a more respectful attitude towards them.
‘DIS-ABLED’ engages in conversation about the environment (diet) and place of disabled people in society, which are current topics. Society, and in particular, people with disabilities and their relatives and friends, are potential beneficiaries of the project results. Schools for people with disabilities and people with disabilities shared press interviews and press notes about this research on their Facebook pages and profiles. This indicates interest in research on disability and its importance. The dissemination and communication of the results help integrate disabled people more into their societies and might help form a more respectful attitude towards them.