Sex-based differences in osteoarthritis in early medieval Spain: A case study from Visigoth and Carolingian period Terrassa.

Beginning in 1995, individuals from the Sant Pere church complex in Terrassa, Spain were exhumed. Using 21 biological females and 32 biological males collectively between the Visigoth (5th – 8th centuries) and Carolingian (9th – 11th centuries) periods from this collection, this research examined the difference in osteoarthritis between estimated phenotypic sexes. For osteoarthritis to be present, an individual needed to meet one of two criteria: 1. two or more of the following was present: macroporosity, sclerotic bone, joint deformation, and marginal osteophytes, or 2. eburnation had occurred. Through employing embodiment theory, along with gender and queer theories, this research allowed for an understanding of individuals’ life experiences and show how gender affected daily life. The results showed no osteoarthritis prevalence differences between estimated phenotypic sexes, which leads to the interpretation that daily activities associated with lived experiences of females and males in these periods did not eventuate in embodied binary biologies.