[Empirical approaches to epidemiology of the Middle Ages]

Diseases result from hazards and influences originating in one's environment and could be described in evolutionary terms as maladaptations. Variations in the pattern of diseases throughout times and places can therefore indicate variations in the living conditions of ancient populations. Palaeopathology is the only way of gathering empirical data suitable for the reconstruction of epidemiological developments in the past. In spite of an abundance of material from the middle ages, only 25 series turned out to fulfill two crucial prerequisites, a certain minimal sizes and a palaeopathological analysis. Still a statistical comparison of those palaeopathological analyses proved impossible, because in most cases only casuistic details were available. This deficiency results from a lack of concept within palaeopathology. The ecosystem theory offers a basis for the development of a far-reaching concept. Widely accepted paradigms are indispensable for a prolific interdisciplinary cooperation on the highly relevant and complex phenomenon disease. Working with a standardized concept palaeopathology will be able to contribute to the solution of questions central to both, social history and environmental archaeology.