TeamNun Teams up with Leading Forensic Artists at University of Dundee

Although newly started, the Word of Mouth project has already uncovered evidence of a number of individuals in monastic cemeteries who played a role in the work life of their community, despite significant physical impairments, challenging received narratives about the exclusion of disabled individuals from premodern religious communities. 

Our team is illuminating the lives of individuals historically marginalized by traditional historiographical and archaeological narratives by re-examining impairment and disability in specific contexts from Late Antique to Early Modern Europe. This initiative will introduce an innovative approach to understanding the daily experiences of people with physical disabilities and healed trauma in premodern Europe. It will bring together historians, archaeologists, archaeological scientists, forensic imaging specialists, and orthopaedists who focus on the biomechanics of skeletal impairment and healed trauma. This collaborative effort aims to challenge prevailing historical narratives that marginalize impaired and disabled individuals in pre-modern societies.

Our expanded research team in Dundee is led by Dr Tobias Houlton who specialises in facial approximation from skeletal remains, and Sang-hun Yu, who will work alongside Dr Houlton to create moving models that estimate the gait and posture of individuals with physical impairments.

The St Andrews Disabled Students' Network are key collaborators in this project. We will work alongside students with disabilities to create models and moving reconstructions that are effective and respectful -- and importantly, that create empathy for individuals with disabilities in the past and and empower individuals with disabilities in the present.