In Crypt, the author took me on a journey through history, starting in Oxford, where 35 skeletal remains were found all buried together in a ditch. Were the remains of people slayed during the St Brice’s Day Massacre of 1002?
Then, we move to St Mary Magdalene’s hospital in Winchester, where leprosy was treated. There was a body which showed some horrific markers of leprosy and I found this chapter illuminating, as it made me think about the social impact of this disease on the society.
One of my favourite chapters was the one about Paget’s Disease – mainly because there is a history of the disease on my husband’s side of the family. The bones of the monks from the Norton Priory in Cheshire showed some advanced symptoms of the disease. I was glad to discover that the modern Paget’s disease doesn’t present itself so harshly – although my mother-in-law and her sister still suffered great pain with it!
The plague chapter was an eye opener. I thought that plague, or the Black Death, was only prevalent in the 14th century. Just imagine my surprise when the chapter opened up telling the story of the plague outbreak in Hong Kong in 1894! This chapter also revealed that Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes plague, was prevalent way before the 14th century – in fact, the plague was present in the Bronze Age.
After the plague chapters, we are taken on the journey to Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s favourite ship, which sank in 1545, and was recovered in 1982. There were bodies of young men onboard the wreckage of the ship with signs of bone pathology in their shoulders, suggesting there were archers.
Finally, there is a chapter about syphilis, where a body of a woman was found buried in an unusually crouched position behind an altar of the All Saint’s Church in Fishergate in York. Who was this woman? Why was she buried at the Church? Her bones showed advanced symptoms of syphylis…
I just loved this book. It’s a great example of how archaeology can support our understanding of the past. It’s not just old pots and pans, we can gain valuable evidence from the bones of the dead.
Like the author herself said, bones don’t lie. They are there to tells us their story, even after the person’s death.
This book is a compelling and an extremely interesting insight into what life was like in the Middle Ages and beyond.
I definitely recommend it.