The medieval burial of a man who had two different types of dwarfism

One eighth of the world's population suffers from some type of disability.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
07 December 2022 Wednesday 06:43
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The medieval burial of a man who had two different types of dwarfism

One eighth of the world's population suffers from some type of disability. In the European Union alone, for example, people with special needs make up about 14 percent of the population between the ages of 15 and 64. Although the exact figures of the past are not known, day by day new details are discovered that shed light on this issue.

The Neanderthals, without going any further, took special care with their disabled members. And in ancient Egypt people who were blind or with dwarfism were deeply respected. In Poland, during the Middle Ages, people with special needs were buried in the same way as the rest of the community. They were not considered possessed by the devil, nor guilty of any kind of original sin.

In Łekno, a small town in west-central Poland, there is a cemetery on the grounds of a former medieval monastery with approximately 400 burials of monks and laymen. Archaeologists excavated several of the tombs in the 1990s and were particularly struck by one of a man between the ages of 30 and 45 who lived between the 9th and 11th centuries.

Visually, his skeleton already offered clues that this person suffered from some form of skeletal dysplasia, a group of more than 450 inherited disorders that affect bone and cartilage, as well as muscle, tendon, and ligaments. But a more extensive analysis carried out recently in the laboratory has revealed that this individual had up to two different types of dwarfism.

The man, as explained by researchers from the University of Liverpool in an article published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, suffered from achondroplasia (which means having a height of less than 137 centimeters) combined with Léri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (characterized by a disproportionate short stature and Madelung deformity of the wrist).

“It is likely that she had multiple skeletal dysplasia as well as ulnar hemimelia, as her right ulna was significantly shorter than her right radius and left ulna. The combination of these disorders has not been previously reported in the archaeological literature, and this individual is also the first case of achondroplasia and Léri-Weill dyschondroplasia from the medieval period in Central Europe,” the experts write.

During the time this person lived, Łekno was a fortified town with a small domed church near the center. In the 12th century, Cistercian monks established a monastery in the town which was in use until the 16th century. The individual, identified with the label Ł3/66/90, was located on a wall of the fortress.

The study led by bioarchaeologist Magdalena Matczak has revealed that the skeleton had a disproportionate skull, narrow canals for the spinal cord, short ribs, and widened hip bones, characteristics that suggested achondroplasia. The outward base of the elbows and high arched dental palate indicated that the man also had the rare condition called Léri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD).

He was buried without any grave goods, but in a typical grave, indicating that his fellow citizens paid him proper homage after his death. Depending on whether the man was a layman or a monk, his life could have varied greatly, although it is true that, according to archaeologists, the monastery was a place of greater inclusion for people with special needs.

The team of specialists that has worked on this case are part of the DIS-ABLED (Dis-Capacitado) project, which aims to reconstruct the lives of people with disabilities in Central Europe from the 14th-18th centuries. “This topic is rarely addressed in archaeology. If we think of history as our heritage, we cannot fully understand it if we ignore such a large group of people,” explains Dr. Matczak.

Although there are examples like this that show the respect and acceptance of some societies towards individuals with special needs, there are also very different ones that show how difficult life can be for these people. In the United States, during the 19th century, “persons with physical or mental disabilities in Oneida County, New York, were confined to a hostel. There, the 'therapy' consisted of doing physical work so hard that in some cases it led to death from exhaustion. Not to mention the traveling circuses in which people with certain disabilities were exhibited to the public, ”he concludes.