Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Black Death and the Late Medieval Agrarian Crisis: Implications for Dietary Inequality in Denmark

博士论文研究：黑死病和中世纪晚期土地危机：对丹麦饮食不平等的影响

• 批准号: 0452672
• 负责人: Lori Wright
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: Texas A&M Research Foundation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-02-15 至 2007-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0452672&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Black; Death

The medieval period in Denmark (1050-1536 A.D.) was witness to two of the most devastating crises in human history: the famines associated with the Late Medieval Agrarian Crisis (LMAC, began in 1300) and the Black Death epidemic (1348-1353). The LMAC resulted in widespread famine and death throughout much of northern Europe and the Black Death has been estimated to have killed one third of the population of Denmark alone. This study will be the first to examine the effects of these events on diet and dietary inequality in Denmark. The investigators will use stable isotopic analyses of carbon and nitrogen from both human bone collagen and apatite to reconstruct diet from individuals from a variety of segments of medieval society and from the entire medieval period. Much of our knowledge of medieval diet comes from historical sources. It is generally agreed that cereal grains were the most important dietary resource for the majority of people in the medieval period. Historians argue that the population decimation resulting from the Black Death and LMAC necessitated a subsistence shift for most of Europe. Thus, this study will test the hypothesis that prior to 1300 AD, the large population was supported by a primarily cereal-based agricultural diet; while after 1353 AD, population density was lower, crop yields were unreliable, and the diet thus became more pastoral in character. Medieval European society was highly stratified by social class and historical sources indicate that this hierarchy was reflected in diet. This study will also test the hypothesis that the shift towards a more pastoral diet after 1353 A.D. also resulted in a reduction in the disparity in diets between individuals of different social classes. The proposed research will add to our knowledge of the physical anthropology of Denmark, medieval history and the archaeology of social inequality. This project will present some of the first information regarding the diet in medieval Denmark; it will be the first wide-scale analysis of the dietary consequences of the LMAC and Black Death. Because this work focuses on populations of known social structure, it will contribute to the body of anthropological theory on social inequality.This project will train the graduate student researcher in state of the art methods in stable isotope analysis, fostering future research in paleodietary analyses. This research also promotes international cooperation and collaboration. The completion of this research will result in a doctoral dissertation and publications submitted to peer-reviewed journals.

中世纪丹麦的中世纪时期（公元1050-1536年）它见证了人类历史上两次最具破坏性的危机：与中世纪晚期农业危机（LMAC，始于1300年）相关的饥荒和黑死病流行（1348-1353）。 LMAC导致了北方欧洲大部分地区的大范围饥荒和死亡，据估计，黑死病仅在丹麦就造成了三分之一的人口死亡。 这项研究将是第一个研究这些事件对丹麦饮食和饮食不平等的影响。 研究人员将使用来自人骨胶原和磷灰石的碳和氮的稳定同位素分析来重建来自中世纪社会各个阶层和整个中世纪时期的个人的饮食。 我们对中世纪饮食的许多了解都来自历史资料。 人们普遍认为，谷物是中世纪时期大多数人最重要的饮食资源。历史学家认为，黑死病和LMAC导致的人口大规模减少使欧洲大部分地区的生计转变成为必要。 因此，这项研究将测试的假设，在公元1300年之前，大量的人口是由一个主要的谷物为基础的农业饮食支持;而在公元1353年之后，人口密度较低，作物产量是不可靠的，饮食因此变得更加田园风格。中世纪的欧洲社会是高度分层的社会阶级和历史资料表明，这种等级反映在饮食。这项研究还将检验一个假设，即公元1353年后向更田园化饮食的转变也导致了不同社会阶层之间饮食差异的减少。 拟议中的研究将增加我们对丹麦体质人类学、中世纪历史和社会不平等考古学的了解。该项目将提供有关中世纪丹麦饮食的一些首批信息;这将是对LMAC和黑死病饮食后果的首次大规模分析。由于这项工作的重点是已知的社会结构的人口，它将有助于身体的人类学理论的社会不平等。这个项目将培训研究生研究员在稳定同位素分析的最先进的方法，促进未来的研究在古饮食分析。这项研究还促进了国际合作与协作。这项研究的完成将导致博士论文和出版物提交给同行评审的期刊。