Barn i köpingen Löddeköpinge - in utero/in vivo/in morte/ - En studie av barndomens hälsa och status i en medeltida handelsort

This essay discusses the health and life of the children from Löddeköpinge, a medieval churchyard in Scania, Sweden (ca. 1000-1200 BC), investigated in the 1960s-1980s. This study views the children’s well-being and existence from 7 perspectives: demography, growth, odontometric sex assessment, enamel hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia, social age classes and gender. Approximately 1400 individuals were found in Löddeköpinge churchyard and of these about 450 were classified as subadults. We have studied 55 individuals under the age of 18. The results showed that the children in Löddeköpinge lived under relatively good circumstances; in comparison with other populations, the frequencies of enamel hypoplasia were significantly lower than the most affected ones. Also, individuals with cribra orbitalia were not as many as in almost all other populations. Teeth size showed that the children were generally smaller. Weaning probably took place in the age 1.5-3 years. By analyzing age, sex and funerary data, it is concluded that it is probable that children were gendered by sex from birth, but factors like age and family status were at least as important. The position of arms and body were also studied, which showed that children were placed in the graves the same way as adults