Westerhus – Børnenes tænder

Westerhus. The dentitions of the children By Verner Alexandersen and Elisabeth Iregren In Westerhus on the island of Frösö in Jämtland the childhood was a stressful period with high mortality. In this study the living conditions of the children are discussed on the basis of the age distribution of infants, the prevalence of enamel hypoplasia and the tooth size of deciduous and permanent teeth. Gejvall’s age distribution of infants dying in the neonatal and the postneonatal periods was confirmed using both the atlas and the metric method of age assessment although the peak mortality in the age interval from 3-6 months was not as pronounced as suggested by Gejvall. The mortality in the postneonatal period is ascribed to infectious diseases and early supplement to breast-feeding with complementary foods. Various types of enamel hypoplasia were observed in deciduous teeth. Chronologically the hypoplasias occurred in the intrauterine, the neonatal and the postneonatal periods. Linear enamel hypoplasia in the permanent teeth was also noticed and related to malnutrition and systemic diseases after weaning. The prevalence was higher in the juvenile-adult age group than in the samples of children or mature individuals. Tooth size in the permanent dentition was reduced in comparison with samples of teeth from modern Nordic populations suggesting deficits in physical growth in early childhood. The sex dimorphism of the teeth was utilised to show that children buried North and South of the chapel tended to be distributed like the adult persons with the boys buried South of the chapel and the girls to the North of it. East of the chapel the children in mass graves belonged to both sexes

Dieten hos barn och vuxna i Westerhus: Data från spårämnen, kolisotoper och odontologi

The diet for adults and children at Westerhus. Data from trace element and carbon isotope analyses and odontology By Elisabeth Iregren, Högne Jungner, Jyrki Räisänen and Verner Alexandersen The individuals from Westerhus were randomly selected to cover all age groups and both sexes. Bone samples were taken from 94 skeletons (25%) of the population. Different skeletal elements have been used in the PIXE (Proton Induced X-ray Emission) analyses. The following elements were studied: Ca (calcium), the earth metals Mn (manganese) and Fe (iron); the trace elements Zn (zinc), Sr (strontium) and Cr (chromium); the heavy metal Pb (lead) and further Cu (copper), Br (bromine), Ni (nickel), Mo (molybdenum), Zr (zirconium). Soil samples were examined as well as several bone samples of a few individuals. In Westerhus no severe influence of heavy metals has been traced. Lead is found in small amounts in the skeletons. Compared to other medieval people the values of zink indicate a low intake of animal protein in the Westerhus population. Copper is also found in very low amounts. This proves that they did not consume any marine food at all. When using the definitions by Johansen et al. (1986) for evaluating the values of the carbon isotopes, we may conclude that the individuals were presumably consumers of mainly terrestrial food. Thus, the data on carbon isotopes, zinc, and copper verify one another. Results on the Sr/Ca in the diet and the bearing on weaning are presented. It is highly likely that most children in Westerhus were given human milk until the age of 2 years. Single individuals show, however, signs of enamel hypoplasia, which indicates that a few children were given supplementary food earlier. Above the age of two the variation between individuals increases, hinting to different feeding practices in different families. We believe that some children were not weaned until the age of 3-4 years, but above the age of 5 the children show Sr/Ca-values similar to the adults. Swärdstedt (1966) studied adults and found that the number of enamel hypoplasia increased markedly in Westerhus during the years 2.5-4. Evidently, this period in life was critical even to those who survived infancy