In medieval England, “workmanship” determined whether one was considered virtuous or evil. The Latin root for “left” literally meant “sinister,” and people who favored this hand were sometimes accused of witchcraft.

Now, imaging technology can tell us how boosting a hand’s bone chemistry affects it, a study suggests. report In PLOS ONE. Researchers used relatively new imaging techniques to analyze the bones of centuries-old skeletons from a famous shipwreck, the Marie Rose. This ship, part of the Tudor navy during the reign of Henry VIII, was sunk by French ships on July 19, 1545, during the Battle of the Solent. The skeletal remains of the crew were well preserved, allowing for extensive research into their health and appearance.

Human remains from medieval England

To examine the effects on aging – while taking the “hand” into account – researchers looked to the clavicle. Analysis of both sides of the collarbones of 12 crew members aged 13 to 40 revealed asymmetrical effects of aging. In all 12 cases, mineral content increased with age, while protein content decreased. The effects were also more pronounced on the right side.

“Although the aim was also to study changes in the chemistry of the clavicle bones with aging, the left side was incorporated as these human skeletal remains come from individuals who lived in medieval England , where left-handedness had negative associations and therefore right-handedness was the norm for everyone.” says Sheona Shankland, an author of the article who did research at Lancaster University.

Learn more: Hidden graveyard of 18th-century ships makes up Hawaii’s Shipwreck Beach

A new way to examine bones

Although researchers expected to see an increase in bone minerals linked to aging, examining collarbones with Raman spectroscopy – a technique that uses lasers to probe the underlying chemistry of a substance – provided a new level detail that other imaging techniques cannot provide.

“The whole chemical picture provides more information than X-ray-based techniques that don’t take into account fluctuations in chemical details,” says Shankland.

Co-author Jemma Kerns, a researcher from Lancaster University who worked on this project, has already used Raman spectroscopy to study bone diseases in the lower leg bones of some of these sailors. This technique is often used for quality control, for example to ensure that the chemical content of a drug contains the intended molecules. But it’s relatively new in archaeology.

“Using this technique to examine aging alongside the hand is a completely new avenue using archaeological human skeletal remains and it has provided some really interesting results,” says Shankland.

Learn more: No one knows how many wrecks exist, so how do we find them?

The health of 16th century sailors

For archaeology, one of the greatest advantages of Raman is that it does not destroy the objects it probes. Researchers point out that the skeletal remains of the ship were treated with deference.

As for the crew, part of their legacy is that knowing their past bone health could help better understand diseases like osteoporosis in the future.

“It has been a privilege to work with these unique and valuable human remains to learn more about the lives of sailors in the 16th century, while discovering more about changes in bone composition as we age, which is relevant for health today, has been fascinating,” Kerns said in a press release.

Learn more: 4 Famous Shipwrecks You Can Visit

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Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul spent more than 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life sciences policy and global science career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but moved to science magazines. His work has appeared in publications such as Science News, Science, Nature and Scientific American.