Child labour is the most common form of child abuse in the world today, with almost half of child workers employed in hazardous industries. The large-scale employment of children during the rapid industrialisation of the late 18th and early 19th centuries in England is well documented. During this period, the removal of pauper children from workhouses in cities to work as apprentices in rural mills in the North of England was commonplace. Whilst the experiences of some of these children have been recorded historically, this study provides the first direct evidence of their lives through bioarchaeological analysis. The excavation of a rural churchyard cemetery in the village of Fewston, North Yorkshire, yielded the skeletal remains of 154 individuals, including an unusually large proportion of children aged between 8 to 20 years. A multi-method approach was undertaken, including osteological and palaeopathological examination, stable isotope and amelogenin peptide analysis. The bioarchaeological results were integrated with historical data regarding a local textile mill in operation during the 18th-19th centuries. The results for the children were compared to those obtained from contemporaneous individuals of known identity (from coffin plates) of comparable date. Most of the children exhibited distinctive 'non-local' isotope signatures and a diet low in animal protein when compared to the named local individuals. These children also showed severe growth delays and pathological lesions indicative of early life adversity, as well as respiratory disease, which is a known occupational hazard of mill work. This study has provided unique insights into the harrowing lives of these children; born into poverty and forced to work long hours in dangerous conditions. This analysis provides a stark testimony of the impacts of industrial labour on the health, growth and mortality risk of children, with implications for the present as well as our understanding of the past.

• MeSH
• Poverty MeSH
• History, 19th Century MeSH
• Child Labor * MeSH
• Isotopes MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Industry history   MeSH
• Check Tag
• History, 19th Century MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Historical Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• England MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Isotopes MeSH

This study deals with age estimation based on colour changes of human tissue from the intervertebral discs, Achilles tendon and rib cartilage. The investigated colour changes are the result of the accumulation of non-enzymatic browning products in the tissue. Samples of excised tissues were photographed with a digital camera and the pictures were evaluated using the image analysis processor Lucia G 4.11 processor. The values of the intensities of the RGB channels (MeanRed, Mean Green, MeanBlue) and parameters from the IHS system (MeanSaturation, HueTypical, HueVariation, BrightVariation and MeanBrightness) were evaluated. The results confirm that colour changes of some tissues depend on ageing and are a good tool for age estimation.

• MeSH
• Achilles Tendon pathology   MeSH
• Color * MeSH
• Biomarkers MeSH
• Cartilage pathology   MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Photography MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Intervertebral Disc pathology   MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Image Processing, Computer-Assisted MeSH
• Glycation End Products, Advanced metabolism   MeSH
• Reproducibility of Results MeSH
• Aged, 80 and over MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Forensic Sciences instrumentation   methods   MeSH
• Aging pathology   MeSH
• Ribs MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged, 80 and over MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Biomarkers MeSH
• Glycation End Products, Advanced MeSH