Sex and Age related to the Distribution of the Black Death: The Black Death has been considered one of the most deadly and terrifying epidemics in human history, killing over 30% of the Chinese population as well as 30-50% of the European population. Starting in 1347 and lasting through 1351, the Black Death epidemic rapidly spread, first starting in China and Central Asia and then moving westward. The Black Death has been extensively researched by thousands of historians, scientists, demographers and anthropologists and based on decades of research; the spread of the disease is believed to have originated from the Yersinia Pestis bacterium. The Yersinia Pestis bacterium is commonly found in flees which originates in the skin of various ground rodents. The bacterium comes in three forms bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic. It initially spread from trading vessels and then to cities, villages, and eventually the countryside. The plague arouse so fast, people didn’t know what to do and assumed leaving their home was the best option, when in reality it caused even more of a problem. The effects of the plague lasted several decades after it was gone by causing major social, cultural, and economic problems all over the world. Despite all of the studies, researchers still have many questions on why and how the disease chose its victims and how it escalated so quickly.
In order to understand the sexual mortality pattern of the Black Death plague one must look at two questions “did either sex face an elevated risk during the epidemic or were men and women at equal risk of dying?” (DeWitte 222) Beneficial for this information, one must understand the concept of selective mortality. Selective mortality is the belief that certain individuals are more likely to die than others based on their physical and mental status. It is commonly related to the Darwinian concept of natural selection and “survival of the fittest.” Using selectivity mortality, one can learn if the Black Death kills indiscriminately or if it chooses people with the most frailty and illness? Conceivably it has been assumed that the Black Death epidemic did chose men over women. Besides looking at the sex of humans, researchers have studied how the bacteria affected age. When looking at age, it is understood that the Black Death chose elderly and youth more often than middle aged people. Using the research of Sharon Dewitt’s three studies on The Effect of Sex and Mortality during the Black Death in London, Sex Differentials in frailty in medieval England, and Age patterns of mortality during the Black Death in London one can get a better understanding of how people’s age and sex played a role in who was preferred by the epidemic. Based on dental markings, lesions and striations left on Black Death victim’s skeletal remains, one can get a clearer picture of the frailty, disease, and malnutrition each medieval individual had tolerated over his or her lifetime. One can also look into, how much someone’s social role came into effect in who was selected by the sickness? Comparing the Black Death with modern disease epidemics can also give us a better example about selective mortality in the past as well as future. Using ancient cemeteries from Europe one can try and uncover the real answers to all of these questions.
The sample for this study is based from a comparison between the East Smithfield Black Death cemetery in London and two pre-epidemic Danish cemeteries called St Mikkel Church in Viborg and St Albany Church in Odense. . It was stated that:
Black death burial grounds might provide true cross sections of the original populations—that is, skeletal samples of Black Death victims might more closely reflect the true age and sex distributions and frequencies of disease within the original living populations than is available from normal attritional cemeteries …However, some contemporary chroniclers believed that the epidemic was selective, and for example killed more women than men. (Dewitt 222) East Smithfield cemetery in London was designed at the end of 1348 and it was specifically formed as a mass burial ground for victims of the Black Death disease. The cemetery is the largest and most excavated cemetery in Europe, and all of the graves show numerous signs of the Black Death disease. Over 2,400 individuals were buried in the cemetery but only a small portion of 600 skeletons have been examined. Despite only one fourth of the sample being studied, archaeologists have learned that even though this was a mass burial, the skeletons were still buried very cautiously and respectably instead of being piled up in extensive groups. Placing the skeletons on their backs and having their heads face west and feet face east probably has to be linked with a religious medieval Christian context. Usually Christian burials don’t include grave goods but because of the mass epidemic many bodies had coins left with them in their clothing. The coins gave archaeologist a base line for the person’s death which was obviously around the time of the Black Death. Besides religiously, the bodies weren’t piled on top of each other, probably to avoid a greater spread of the plague.
In order to compare the age and sex of the bodies of the East Smithfield grave site and determine if selective mortality played a role, one must look at cemeteries pre dating the epidemic to relate. The information that we can receive from both epidemic and pre-epidemic burials lies mostly within the osteological indicators of the remains as well as the burial grave goods. Common indicators found on the bodies include “Linear Enamel Hypoplasia, Cribra Orbitalia, and Porotic Hyperostosis and Short Femur Length.”(DeWitte and Wood 1440) These lesions can determine how the Black Death epidemic related to frailty as well as if there was any trauma, malnutrition, or starvation. However, besides lesions, pitting, and bone striations, scientists have also started taking a look at “modern diseases that affect one sex” (Dewitt 223) and looking at its similarities with the 14th century plague. Dewitt believes that:
Many studies that examine sex differences in infection have found that males are more susceptible than females to a wide range of diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, and fungi; the course of disease is often more severe in males, and they frequently face higher risks of mortality from parasitic and infectious diseases(Dewitt 223)
It can understood that males are more likely prone to infectious diseases and unintentional injuries; will women are prone to things as such as cerebrovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s and Malaria. This pattern of disease and injury may relate to certain job indicators and roles that men and women play in certain cultural traditions. A case study example that shows a selective modern disease was examined in Tanzania, India where a severe pathogenic outbreak occurred. Data shows that females were at a higher risk than males based on the belief of sleeping arrangements. Men would sleep in their own beds while women slept on the floor. Since women slept on the floor they were at a higher risk of being infected by low lying pathogens as well as other contaminating substances from carrier animals. Using the Tanzania, India example, researchers can see that the women’s sleeping place may indicate her role in society was less valued. A less valued role may indicate a greater chance at infection based on certain privileges such as a place to sleep. Looking at different social and economic patterns one can see that certain diseases may affect people more selectively based on the cultural sex roles. Another related factor that has recently been discovered is the belief that sex hormones can teach us about human prevention as well as increased risk against diseases.
Sex hormones are commonly viewed as a link into how people’s bodies mature and adapt overtime. Dewitte shapes this notion that “sex hormones play an important role in the immune system an account for some of the observed sex differences in disease patterns…estrogens seem to enhance both cellular and humoral immunity whereas androgens reduce incompetence.” (Dewitte 223-224) Researchers consider sex hormones too greatly affect people’s moods such as “aggression and dispersal which can play a key role in risk of exposure and dispersion.” (Dewitte 224) It has been considered that men’s hostile behavior may result in them becoming heavier drinkers or smokers which eventually cause them to be to be more prone to diseases such as lung cancers and cirrhosis. It is also believed that in medieval times, women were not given as much food and nutritional supplements in order to circumvent their minds from thinking about having sexual urges. Women would go on long fasting periods because offside effects caused by pregnancy or lactation periods. In Dewitte’s excerpt Sex Differentials in frailty in medieval England it is stated that:
Historical records indicate that women did not live as long as men in the early Middle Ages, and their apparent reduced longevity might have been the result of iron-deficiency anemia caused by a lack of sufficient iron in the diet coupled with iron depletion through menstruation, pregnancy, and lactation. (Dewitte 293)
From this information, one can make assumptions about the frailty that is chosen based on sex hormones. Due to child birth, other menstrual cycle patterns, and the different social admirations that women had during those times, they could have easily been at a higher risk to die than men based on sexual cycles. People often miss how important the role of sexual dimorphism can contribute to health, especially when it comes to contracting certain infections. However, due to the fact that the Black Death heightened so quickly, it is difficult to interpret any visible signs of sexual patterns on most of the individual’s bones found in East Smithfield. Hence, there is still a debate on whether or not sexual patterns can truly be interpreted in Black Death victims.
For Age Patterns of the Black Death mortality it can be determined based on previous historical documents as well as several new scientific methods and modules. Some written evidence that was found looked at the death rate based on the status of high ranked individuals. People of high rank clearly died less based on better nutrition and isolation from lower and middle class. One new scientific method for determining the age patterns is called transition analysis. (Dewitte 3396 Age) Transition Analysis is “data from a known-age reference collection…used to obtain the conditional probability that a skeleton will exhibit a particular age indicator stage or suite of age indicator stages given the individual’s known-age.”(Dewitte 3396 Age) Based on initial evidence comparing both the East Smithfield and the Denmark cemeteries, the conclusion was that the Black Death was different than normal mortality because it disproportionally affected both teenagers and elderly adults. However, this is misleading, due to the fact that “without reliable dating patterns about the living age distributions of the original populations, the observed age at death distributions would reflect differences in the age structure of the respective living populations, rather than differences in mortality patterns.” (Dewitte-Age 3398) This means that because of differences between Denmark and London’s living population and length of life in each place it is difficult to differentiate completely on age length standard. Using this method as well as several others, researchers concluded that people who were older rather than younger were at a greater risk for death from the disease. Thus age was not indiscriminate based on the Black Death victims.
The research from the East Smithfield cemetery confirms that the selective mortality rate was a factor in the Black Plague and people were already suffering from health and mental illness. This means that the Black Death epidemic was similar to normal mortality because it also targeted the weak and suffering rather than the healthy. When it comes to looking at sexual patterns among adults there is no true selectivity. Osteological indicators can only explain so much about a person’s lifestyle. Yet, using psychological indicators it was determined in London that certain stresses such as hard labor or stressful jobs could have put some men at a greater risk then woman. Further research will need to be done to completely ensure the information is accurate. Overall, the Black Death was an epidemic that changed how demographers as well as anthropologist view the spread of disease in society based on sex, age, and frailty.

References:
DeWitte, Sharron N. Sex Differentials in Frailty in Medieval England. New York: NIH Public Access 285-297, 2010. Web.
DeWitte, Sharon N. Age patterns of mortality during the Black Death in London A.D. 1349-1350. New York: Journal of Archaeological Science 137: 3394-3400, 2010. Web.
DeWitte, Sharon N. The effect of sex on risk of mortality during the Black Death in London A.D. 1349-1350. New York: Journal of Archaeological Science 220-241, 2010. Web.
Dewitte, Sharon N. and Wood, James W. Selectivity of Black Death mortality with respect to preexisting health. New York: The National Academy of Sciences of the USA 105: 1436-1441, 2008. Web.