Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom.
Department of Anthropology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
PLoS One. 2023 May 17;18(5):e0284970. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284970. eCollection 2023.
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.
童工是当今世界最常见的虐待儿童形式，几乎有一半的童工从事危险行业。18 世纪末和 19 世纪初，英国工业化迅速发展，大量雇用童工，这一点有大量文献记载。在此期间，常常见到城市济贫院的贫困儿童被送到英格兰北部农村的工厂当学徒。虽然这些儿童的一些经历在历史上有记录，但本研究通过生物考古学分析首次提供了他们生活的直接证据。在北约克郡富斯通村的一个乡村教堂墓地进行了挖掘，出土了 154 具骨骼遗骸，其中包括比例异常高的 8 至 20 岁儿童。采用了多方法方法，包括骨骼和古病理学检查、稳定同位素和釉原蛋白肽分析。生物考古学结果与当地一家 18 至 19 世纪运营的纺织厂的历史数据相结合。将这些儿童的结果与具有可比日期和已知身份（来自棺材板）的同期个体的结果进行了比较。与同名的当地个体相比，大多数儿童的同位素特征具有独特的“非本地”特征，动物蛋白饮食较低。这些儿童还表现出严重的生长迟缓以及表明早期生活逆境的病理性病变，以及呼吸道疾病，这是工厂工作的已知职业危害。本研究深入了解了这些儿童悲惨的生活；他们出生于贫困家庭，被迫在危险的条件下长时间工作。这项分析为工业劳动对儿童健康、生长和死亡风险的影响提供了一个鲜明的例证，不仅对现在，而且对我们对过去的理解都具有重要意义。
