Fracture trauma in a medieval British farming village

Farming is among the three most hazardous occupations in modern society and perhaps also held a similar position during the medieval period. The goal of this study was to determine if there is a significant difference in freq uencies and patterns of longbone fracture trauma observed between rural and urban activity bases that distinguish farming as a particularly dangerous occupation during the medieval period. The longbones of 170 individuals exc avated from Raunds, a rural medieval British site (10th-12th centuries AD) were examined for fractures and compared to data collected from four contem porary British medieval sites, one rural and three urban, The fracture freq uency for the Raunds individuals (19.4%) was significantly different from t he urban sites (4.7-5.5%). Female fractures were characterized by injury to the forearm, while the males were predisposed to diverse fracture location s. Clinical research provided a source of documented farm-related trauma fr om North America and Europe where the crops and animals raised, the manual chores performed, and the equipment used in traditional or small-scale farm s have changed little in form or function since the medieval period. Nonmec hanized causes of injury contribute to approximately 40% of all modern farm -related injuries and are attributed to falls from lofts and ladders, anima l assaults and bites, and falls from moving vehicles. These hazardous situa tions were also present in the medieval period and may explain some of the fracture trauma from the rural sites. A high fracture frequency for both me dieval males and females is significantly associated with farming subsisten ce when compared to craft-orientated urban dwellers.