Dewitte And Slavin Summary

In this article, Sharon DeWitte and Philip Slavin analyze how the Great Famine and the Great Bovine Pestilence influenced the health of the population in the early 14th century, specifically in England. In doing this, they attempt to determine if these two disasters had an impact on the susceptibility of certain population groups to the Black Death that devastated Europe during the middle of the 1300s. There is a detailed analysis of paleopidemiology data from a study involving skeletal remains from the East Smithfield Cemetery in London, as well as a review of manorial records regarding the agricultural composition of medieval England. DeWitte and Slavin examine the implications of the short-term effects of famine based on skeletal stress markers. In addition, they examine how the long-term effects of the Great Bovine Pestilence may have also reduced the general health of certain sections of the population through a lack of sufficient nutrients, specifically calcium and Vitamin B. …show more content…
This is very important, as it implies that although the Black Death killed a huge percentage of the medieval population, there would be reason to believe that certain portions of the population were, in particular, more vulnerable to the disease. Such factors that would create this vulnerability, as indicated by the authors, could involve the potentially adverse health effects of the famine and the bovine pestilence that contributed to a decrease in food supply over the course of several