My new paper, 'The Burning Question: Frequencies of Tobacco Consumption in Postmedieval (16th–19th c. CE) England and the Netherlands', is out now in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology!

Using osteoarchaeological and biomolecular evidence for who was and was not smoking in the past, this paper analyses patterns in the frequency of tobacco consumption according to sex, age, socio-economic status, and country. We found some very interesting results that contradict current historical perceptions of female tobacco smoking. It has long been held that women in the nineteenth century did not frequently smoke, particularly if they were well-to do. While women weren't consuming tobacco using the same mode as many men, our evidence shows that they were, in fact, frequently smoking, even among the higher classes. We also found that, while this may have been more socially unacceptable in younger women, as they aged, there was a greater liklihood of women having evidence for smoking.

Men, on the other hand, were similarly likely to smoke, regardless of age. Almost all Dutch men smoked a clay pipe that resulted in distinctive pipe-notches, but English men smoked less frequently, and the way they smoked varied according to their socio-economic status. Poorer English men were more likely to use a short clay pipe that would have made smoking whilst undertaking manual labour possible. Women in both England and the Netherlands almost completely avoided the use of a short clay pipe that would have resulted in visible pipe-notches on the teeth, suggesting social restrictions around the visibility of smoking in women.

This work has been a culmination of many years working on the Tobacco, Health and History project, and I'm very proud of our findings!

Abstract:

The frequency of tobacco use during the postmedieval period is widely underexplored; this has repercussions for our understanding of the intoxicant's health impacts during this time. Our study assesses the frequency rates of tobacco consumption in different social groups in England and the Netherlands, two countries in which tobacco use became quickly incorporated into the sociocultural fabric after its introduction to Europe in the 16th century. We assessed frequencies of evidence for tobacco use in 380 English and 318 Dutch individuals, using osteoarchaeological and biomolecular analyses. We examined use-rates in individuals from three different socioeconomic backgrounds: rural agricultural (Barton-upon-Humber; Middenbeemster), urban high-middle (St James's Gardens Burial Ground; Zwolle), and urban low-middle (St James's Gardens Burial Ground; Arnhem) status. Our results indicate high usage rates in Dutch men (63.6%–98.1%), who overwhelmingly demonstrate evidence for pipe-usage, and similar rates among English men and women (39.6%–64.2%), regardless of socioeconomic status. Women from both countries were highly unlikely to present with evidence for pipe-usage, indicating a preference for an alternative means of consumption, and were also far more likely to present with evidence for tobacco-usage in older age. Our results directly contradict the historical notion that women, particularly well-to-do women in the 19th century, were not consuming tobacco, but identify that its use perhaps became more socially acceptable as women aged. Further, we identify differences in the presence of pipe notches in different groups, which could indicate the preference for different ways of consuming tobacco according to gender, socioeconomic background, occupation, and differing norms between countries. This analysis provides nuance to historical concepts of who was, and was not, smoking during the postmedieval period, and paves the way for understanding the long-term health implications of a drug that has had vast and enduring repercussions for European society.