Lea Beverungen

Title: Examination of Skeletal Remains from Lübeck St. Anne's Churchyard: Are Poor Living Conditions Reflected in Non-Occupational Stress Markers?

In my study, the skeletal remains from a cemetery for the poor in Lübeck, called St. Anne's Churchyard will be analysed. The cemetery was operational from 1639 to 1868 and was particularly used for the people living in the St. Anne’s Poor- and Workhouse. It was a public institution funded by church collections and donations, providing shelter to the poor, orphans, adolescents, criminals sentenced to prison, as well as the sick and infirm.
The project aims to generate a comprehensive anthropological report on adult individuals from the Lübeck skeleton series, with particular emphasis on identifying physical stress markers. The Lübeck skeleton series comprises around 230 adults. Half of these individuals will be analysed within this project, while the other half will be examined by Helena Bütehorn. Different stress markers will be analysed for the entirety of skeletal remains. Stress is the study of health and well-being, focusing on the reconstruction of adaptation and behaviour. My analysis will concentrate on stress markers associated with poor living conditions, including non-specific indicators (e.g. cribra orbitalia and linear enamel hypoplasia), dental status, dental pathologies and inflammatory diseases. Given the anticipated suboptimal living conditions of St. Anne's inhabitants, pronounced stress markers are expected among those buried at the cemetery. Malnutrition and poor hygiene within this population are likely to have further impacted their health, detectable through various skeletal stress markers. Ultimately, the aim is to compare identified stress markers with another skeleton series to assess whether there is a heightened prevalence among individuals from St. Anne's Churchyard, indicating that the Lübeck skeleton series represents members of a lower social class.