The Babe, the Virgin, and the Crone: Female Pubertal Development in Medieval and Post-Medieval Arnhem, The Netherlands
Abstract
This thesis utilises a biocultural lens to explore the pubertal timings of female adolescents from the city of Arnhem, The Netherlands (AD 1350-1829). Through the macroscopic examination of the skeletal remains of 40 female individuals (aged 9-25 years), data on stature, skeletal and dental pathology, and pubertal timings were collected. The results of this study are situated within previous bioarchaeological work on puberty, alongside clinical and historical standards. The average menarcheal age at Arnhem is 16.5 years, which aligns with primary sources and medieval British standards. The overall development period spans 11.3 years, from 10.3 to 21.6 years. Physiological changes that accompany each pubertal stage are related to social expectations as indicated in primary sources and are used to approximate the lived experience of female adolescents from Arnhem. This study showcases how methodology impacts interpretation and further supports the lack of a health disparity between the urban and rural environments of pre-Industrial Netherlands. It contributes to a growing research field about adolescents and puberty in the past, a topic which has previously received little attention, and seeks to remedy the traditional exclusion of women and children from archaeological reconstructions of life in the past.