Beneath the Surface: Disability in archaeological and osteobiographical contexts

Disability and quality of life in the past was approached through case studies of skeletonised individuals from the monastic site, Skriðuklaustur in East Iceland (AD 1494-1554). Historical archaeology and osteological data were used simultaneously to identify bodily impairments visible on the skeleton and to make interpretations about the potentially disabling conditions associated with them. This chapter seeks to examine how impairments may have led to social disability and how society may have perceived people with such impairments. It likewise seeks to consider the how impaired and/or disabled individuals may have adapted to the biological limitations and potentially subsequent social marginalisation. The study results show that the impairments themselves answer little about social attitudes and past perspectives on disability but do nonetheless provide indications about life experience and the possible functional limitations these individuals may have faced. The cases used show at least that people had some reason to seek medical care there instead of staying at their relative’s residency, showing that disability lies in between the lines of impairment and temporal social perspectives.