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Medieval people suffered for fashion with their extremely pointy shoes - Ars Technica
Jun 15, 2021 2 mins, 7 secs
University of Cambridge archaeologists studied skeletal remains excavated from Cambridge and found evidence that bunions were far more prevalent in remains from the 14th and 15th centuries than in those from earlier centuries, when more pragmatic footwear was popular.

The clinical term for bunions is hallux valgus, in which the joint connecting the big toe to the foot deforms because the big toe is bending too much toward the other toes.

Back in 2005, archaeologist Simon Mays examined the skeletal remains of two British skeleton series; one was from the early medieval period, and the other was from the late medieval period.

Mays found evidence of bunions only with the later remains, "consistent with archaeological and historical evidence for a rise in popularity, during the late Medieval period (at least among the richer social classes), of narrow, pointed shoes which would have constricted the toes.".

The Cambridge team applied a similar osteological analysis to its own sampling of remains, since there is evidence that the medieval inhabitants of Cambridge also favored poulaine-tipped shoes by the late 14th century.

The team examined the skeletal remains of 177 adults recovered from four cemeteries around Cambridge: 50 from a parish cemetery of All Saints by the Castle, 69 from one by the Hospital of St.

The examination focused on assessing the skeletal elements of the big toe for evidence of bunions.

The researchers also looked for evidence of fractures, with the objective of establishing a possible link between bunions and injury from falls.

Among the remains that could be accurately dated, 27 percent of those from the 14th and 15th centuries showed evidence of bunions, compared to just 6 percent of skeletons that were buried between the 11th and 13th centuries.

The highest prevalence was found among remains from the friary: 43 percent, compared to just 3 percent for the rural parish cemetery.

As for evidence of fractures, the Cambridge team found that fractures consistent with falls were far more common in the remains of those with bunions than those without, as well as being more common in the remains of older people with hallux valgus than those of the same age with normal feet.

"Modern clinical research on patients with hallux valgus has shown that the deformity makes it harder to balance and increases the risk of falls in older people," said co-author Jenna Dittmar.

Older people also often experience age-related bone loss, which brings a higher risk of fractures.

So the high rate of fractures in the older samples could have had multiple contributing factors, not just falls caused by awkward, pointy-toed shoes.

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