The Medieval Cemetery of St Leonard's Leper Hospital at Midland Road, Peterborough

Description

This publication relates to the excavation of a medieval and post-medieval cemetery at Midland Road, Peterborough. The excavation and initial post-excavation work were undertaken by Archaeology Services Durham University. The present publication report was prepared by staff of York Archaeological Trust and represents a full report relating to the cemetery together with a detailed analysis of the skeletal remains by A. Boyle. The cemetery was originally associated with the medieval leper hospital of St Leonards which was founded by 1125. This site is of national importance, as relatively few cemeteries relating to leper hospitals have been excavated. SUMMARY vi 1 INTRODUCTION 7 2 METHODOLOGY 7 3 LOCATION, GEOLOGY & TOPOGRAPHY 8 4 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ST LEONARD’S HOSPITAL 8 5 LEPROSY 10 5.1 The spread of leprosy 10 5.2 Diagnosis and treatment of the disease in the medieval period 12 5.3 Medieval attitudes to leprosy 12 5.4 Leper hospitals in England 15 5.5 The burial of lepers 17 6 A SUMMARY OF THE SEQUENCE OF DEPOSITS AT THE MIDLAND ROAD SITE 20 7 THE CEMETERY 21 7.1 The date of the cemetery 21 7.2 Phases of use within the cemetery 21 7.3 Phase 1 22 7.4 Phase 2 24 7.5 Burial practice 25 8 THE HUMAN BONES 44 8.1 Introduction 44 8.2 Osteological analysis 45 8.3 Pathological analysis 68 8.4 Dental Health 118 9 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 123 9.1 The layout of the burial ground in Phases 1 and 2 123 9.2 Burial practices in Phase 1 and 2 126 9.3 The population at Midland Road 130 10 FUTURE WORK 135 PUBLISHED REFERENCES 137 WEB-BASED REFERENCES 144