Ebook: The Spitalfields Project. Vol. 2. The Anthropology. The Middling Sort

The Spitalfields Project came about as a result of the need to clear the crypt of Christ Church, Spitalfields during the restoration of the church. About a thousand skeletons were excavated, including nearly 400 with coffin plate information giving name, age and date of death. Dates of birth ranged from 1646 to 1852, and dates of death from 1729 (when the church was consecrated) to 1852. The known age skeletons have provided the basis for an analysis of growth and ageing processes, and some marked differences from modern samples have been documented.

Reconstruction of the social backgrounds of the named individuals has shown that the majority were of Huguenot descent, and that a large proportion were involved in the silk industry. Some were prosperous master weavers, others were hard working journeymen weavers, who, together with merchants, surgeons, and tradesmen comprised the 'middling sort' of the eighteenth century.

The study has, where possible, integrated the documentary evidence with skeletal characteristics, and burial practices. Such variables as nutrition, oral health, disease, climate, occupation, social, and economic status have been examined in relation to skeletal traits. Obstetric histories were reconstructed, and the reliability of methods of parity assessment were tested.

This report presents the results of the initial examination of the physical anthropology, and the social history of a post-medieval crypt sample.