Leonie Alicia Koch

Title: Biographical events reflected on the skeleton – Morphological and histological examinations of an Early Modern skeleton series from Wolfenbüttel

Investigations of human remains not only include collecting individual data and examining changes in the human bone that may have been caused by disease, stress, or other environmental factors during their lives. Morphological methods have been developed to also provide suggestions about pregnancy and childbirth and the possible signs on the skeleton.
The problem with the application of these methods is the verification of their accuracy on historical remains, as there is often little to no information available about the individuals and their lives, or possible pregnancies. The aim of my thesis is to test several hypotheses related to pregnancy and childbirth.
The skeletal series from Wolfenbüttel (Lower Saxony) will be used to test these hypotheses. This series is unique because it includes data on pregnancies, births, and the women affected. The individuals in the series date back to the Early Modern period and were buried between 1650 and 1750. The series includes individuals from the city's upper class, such as mayors, court employees, and their families. The graves are hereditary plots where family members were buried next to each other. Historical records complement the identification of most individuals, providing insights into their lives and relationships.
In conclusion, my study aims to investigate whether the stress factors "pregnancy" and "birth" have a demonstrable influence on the mineralisation of the tooth cementum and whether this can be determined by histological examination of the incremental lines. Furthermore, it will be investigated whether pregnancy has an effect on the diagnosis of age at death, based on histological examinations of the compact bone. Thirdly, it will be analysed whether pregnancy and childbirth affect the pelvis of a female individual and how this may impact age determination based on methods on the facies symphysialis and facies auricularis. Finally, this study will investigate whether the “birth traumas” on the female pelvis mentioned in the literature are actual artefacts caused by childbirth.