The working life of Museum of London

The growth of industry and advent of new manufacturing techniques brought with it associated occupational hazards for those going to work in the factories, building sites, dockyards and railways of 19^th century London. This could involve fractured bones resulting from falls from heights, amputation of limbs that were caught in machinery, burns and other workplace incidents. Another cause of illness at work was related to the materials and chemicals involved. One example of this was known as ‘phossy jaw’, where the vapor emitted during the manufacture of ‘strike anywhere’ matches could result in gangrene if the poisonous phosphorous fumes penetrated the jaw bone (Picard 2005). This could lead to the formation of an abscess and disfigurment with surgical removal of the jaw bone the only treatment.

The excavation of St Mary and St Michael Church, Whitechapel by MOLA revealed one possible example of this affliction.  The skeletal remains of an adult male aged 26-35 years displayed active, localised bone changes to the mandible (lower jaw). There were areas of fine pitting together with occasional large pits to the buccal (cheek facing) and lingual (tongue facing) surfaces of the jaw. Towards the mandibular rami (posterior jaw) were areas of eroded bone that revealed the underlying spongy bone structure. The outer cortex of the bone also appeared abnormally thickened.

Radiographs of the jaw revealed regions of irregular, thinned bone and also areas of increased thickening towards the mentum (chin). While a diagnosis of ‘phossy jaw’ is difficult to prove conclusively, this helped to identify osteonecrosis of the mandible, a condition where the blood supply to the bone is disrupted resulting in the necrosis (death of bone cells). Such changes may also be caused by a range of other conditions and infections such as syphilis.

The identification of this condition from excavated skeletal remains provides a rare glimpse into the dangers faced in the work place and the changes related to the expansion of cities and industrialisation at this time