COMPARATIVE DEGENERATIVE JOINT DISEASE OF THE VERTEBRAL COLUMN IN THEMEDIEVAL MONASTIC CEMETERY OF THE GILBERTINE PRIORY OF ST ANDREW, FISHERGATE, YORK, ENGLAND

The pattern of degenerative joint disease (DJD) of the intervertebral and apophyseal joints of the vertebral column of 81 skeletons from the thirteenth to fourteenth! century medieval priory cemetery of St. And rew, Fishergate, York, was :recorded in relation to their location of interment: eastern cemetery, southern cemetery, and intramurally (with in the priory buildings). Archaeological context and ethnohistorical a ccounts support the interpretation that people of different social sta tus were buried in these areas. Linear discriminant function analysis and paired Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests showed that the differences in ver tebral column DJD pattern and severity among the three subgroups were not statistically significant. As the archaeological and historical ev idence seems reliable, it is argued that the analysis of DJD of the ve rtebral column might not be ideal to study the effects of normal activ ity patterns, a conclusion which supports the results of recent bioarc haeological research. Further, high-low plots demonstrate that the dif ferences in DJD pattern were located between intervertebral and apophy seal joints of individuals rather than between subgroups of the cemete ry. It is thought that this difference was produced as a response to e rect posture during bipedal locomotion, reflecting vertebral curvature s, rather than differing occupational stresses. Thus, due to biologica l. constraints on its function, the vertebral column might not be an i deal structure to study markers of occupational stress. (C) 1997 Wiley -Liss, Inc.