Example of a coffin plate excavated from the cemetery.

Example of a coffin plate excavated from the cemetery.</p

Raincloud (boxplot + violin + jitter) plots [99] of human data categorized by age or named status for group sizes >5.

Raincloud (boxplot + violin + jitter) plots [99] of human data categorized by age or named status for group sizes >5.</p

S2 Appendix -

Child labour is the most common form of child abuse in the world today, with almost half of child workers employed in hazardous industries. The large-scale employment of children during the rapid industrialisation of the late 18th and early 19th centuries in England is well documented. During this period, the removal of pauper children from workhouses in cities to work as apprentices in rural mills in the North of England was commonplace. Whilst the experiences of some of these children have been recorded historically, this study provides the first direct evidence of their lives through bioarchaeological analysis. The excavation of a rural churchyard cemetery in the village of Fewston, North Yorkshire, yielded the skeletal remains of 154 individuals, including an unusually large proportion of children aged between 8 to 20 years. A multi-method approach was undertaken, including osteological and palaeopathological examination, stable isotope and amelogenin peptide analysis. The bioarchaeological results were integrated with historical data regarding a local textile mill in operation during the 18th-19th centuries. The results for the children were compared to those obtained from contemporaneous individuals of known identity (from coffin plates) of comparable date. Most of the children exhibited distinctive ‘non-local’ isotope signatures and a diet low in animal protein when compared to the named local individuals. These children also showed severe growth delays and pathological lesions indicative of early life adversity, as well as respiratory disease, which is a known occupational hazard of mill work. This study has provided unique insights into the harrowing lives of these children; born into poverty and forced to work long hours in dangerous conditions. This analysis provides a stark testimony of the impacts of industrial labour on the health, growth and mortality risk of children, with implications for the present as well as our understanding of the past.</div

Age distribution of boys and girls known to have been sent to Fewston parish as pauper apprentices.

Age distribution of boys and girls known to have been sent to Fewston parish as pauper apprentices.</p

Scatterplot of humans from Fewston with animals from Hungate, York with the outlying pig specimen with a δ¹³C value of -10.2‰ omitted to allow for greater clarity in the plot.

Scatterplot of humans from Fewston with animals from Hungate, York with the outlying pig specimen with a δ13C value of -10.2‰ omitted to allow for greater clarity in the plot.</p

Summary statistics for humans from Fewston by age category and named status.

Summary statistics for humans from Fewston by age category and named status.</p

Summary statistics for the strontium and oxygen isotope values categorized by ‘named’, ‘unknown adult’ and ‘adolescent’ individuals from Fewston.

Summary statistics for the strontium and oxygen isotope values categorized by ‘named’, ‘unknown adult’ and ‘adolescent’ individuals from Fewston.</p

Crude prevalence rates of isotopically identified non-local children aged 8–20 years (excluding Sk 071 and Sk 262 who may be local) with different forms of DEH.

Crude prevalence rates of isotopically identified non-local children aged 8–20 years (excluding Sk 071 and Sk 262 who may be local) with different forms of DEH.</p

The location of the parish of Fewston; West House mill, located in Blubber houses.

The location of the parish of Fewston; West House mill, located in Blubber houses.</p

Plot of mean and standard deviations for δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N in populations previously studied from the post-medieval period against age categories from Fewston where sample size >5 individuals (denoted with prefix F).

Sites in London are denoted by ‘_L’. Reference populations derive from: York [100], Coventry and Chelsea [89], Birmingham [101], Lukin Street and Kilkenny Workhouse [78], Chichester low/mid status and high status denoted by burial type [102] (S2 Appendix), Spitalfields [103], Queen’s Chapel Savoy and St Barnabas [85]. Comparative data can be found in S2 Appendix.</p