Creating communities of care: Sex estimation and mobility histories of adolescents buried in the cemetery of St. Mary Magdalen leprosarium (Winchester, England)

Objectives: This study examines the biological sex and geographical origins of adolescents buried at the St Mary Magdalen leprosarium (Winchester, UK). The data are combined with archaeological and palaeopathological evidence to broaden the understanding of mobility and its relationship to leprosy and leprosaria in Medieval England. Materials and Methods: Nineteen individuals (similar to 10-25 at death) with skeletal lesions diagnostic of leprosy were analyzed using standard osteological methods. Amelogenin peptides were extracted from five individuals whose biological sex could not be assessed from macroscopic methods. Enamel samples were analyzed to produce Sr-87/Sr-86 and delta O-18 values to explore mobility histories. Results: Amelogenin peptides revealed three males and two females. Tooth enamel samples provided an Sr-87/Sr-86 ratio range from 0.7084 to 0.7103 (mean 0.7090, +/- 0.0012, 2 sigma). delta O-18(P) values show a wide range of 15.6 parts per thousand-19.3 parts per thousand (mean 17.8 +/- 1.6 parts per thousand 2 sigma), with corresponding delta O-18(DW) values ranging from -9.7 parts per thousand to -4.1 parts per thousand (mean -6.3 +/- 2.4 parts per thousand 2 sigma). Discussion: Amelogenin peptide data reveal the presence of adolescent females with bone changes of leprosy, making them the youngest confirmed females with leprosy in the archaeological record. Results also show at least 12 adolescents were local, and seven were from further afield, including outside Britain. Since St. Mary Magdalen was a leprosarium, it is possible that these people traveled there specifically for care. Archaeological and palaeopathological data support the notion that care was provided at this facility and that leprosy stigma, as we understand it today, may not have existed in this time and place.