Medieval bioarchaeology is the study of human remains recovered from medieval archaeological sites. Bioarchaeology aims to understand populations through the analysis of human skeletal remains and this application of bioarchaeology specifically aims to understand medieval populations. There is an interest in the Medieval Period when it comes to bioarchaeology, because of how differently people lived back then as opposed to now, in regards to not only their everyday life, but during times of war and famine as well. The biology and behavior of those that lived in the Medieval Period can be analyzed by understanding their health and lifestyle choices.

Linear enamel hypoplasias are examples of periods of stress or disruption in a child's health where horizontal bands form on the teeth that can be examined macroscopically and represent a localized decrease in enamel thickness. Enamel hypoplasias are used in bioarchaeological research as markers of childhood physiological stress.

Justyna Jolanta Miszkiewicz, from the University of Kent, studied linear enamel hypoplasia and age-at-death in the medieval population of Canterbury, UK. She specifically focused on the populations at St. Gregory's Priory and Cemetery. She found 374 teeth with linear enamel hypoplasia in either the mandibular or maxillary permanent teeth. She also found that there were significantly greater frequency of linear enamel hypoplasia in the cemetery compared to the Priory. The mean number of teeth with linear enamel hypoplasia in the cemetery was 17.6 and the mean number at the Priory was 7.9. This study also measured age-at-death of the individuals as well as what types of social groups they represented. The results indicated that childhood stress might reflect adult mortality and that the health of individuals from diverse social backgrounds can be assessed using linear enamel hypoplasia analysis.

Porotic hyperostosis is a pathological condition affecting the cranial vault. It is characterized by porosities in the outer table of the cranial vault or orbital roof. When porosities are exhibited in the orbital roof it is called cribra orbitalia. Since the 1950s, the most widely accepted probable cause of porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia is chronic iron-deficiency anemia. While dietary deficiencies are the most probable cause, other possibilities include nutrients lost to intestinal parasites.

Anne L. Grauer, Professor of Anthropology at Loyola University Chicago, assessed the presence of porotic hyperostosis and periosteal reactions in the population (n=1,014) from St. Helen-on-the-Walls in York, England. She used porotic hyperostosis and periosteal reactions to examine health and disease in urban medieval England. Grauer discovered that 58% of the population displayed evidence of porotic hyperostosis and 21.5% displayed evidence of periosteal reactions.

In 2002, J. Piontek and T. Kozlowski, from the Adam Mickiewicz University and Nicholas Copernicus University, respectively, studied that frequency of cribra orbitalia in Medieval Polish populations. The purpose of this study was to present data on the frequency of cribra orbitalia in skulls of children from a cemetery in Gruczno, Poland and compare these results with the frequency of cribra orbitalia in adult populations. They found frequencies of 47.1% of cribra orbitalia in children aged 0–7 at death and frequencies of 50% in children who died between ages 7 and 15. The authors concluded that the living conditions of the medieval populations in Gruczno did not necessarily guarantee the good health of children and adolescents due to the exposure of pathological factors that disturbed their growth and development.

Harris lines are stress indicators on the skeleton that form due to malnutrition, disease, or other stress factors during childhood. During this time, bone growth is temporarily stopped or slowed down but bone mineralization will continue. Once the stress has decreased or stopped, bone growth will resume, which results in a line of increased mineral density that can be seen in radiographs. If there is no recovery from stress, no line will be formed.

Ameen et al. (2005) studied the incidence of Harris lines in medieval populations from Berne, Switzerland. the scholars from the University Hospital of Berne collected radiographs of the tibia from 112 well-preserved skeletons that lived during the 8th-15th centuries. They also compared their results with the radiographs of 138 living patients in the same geographic region. They found evidence of Harris lines in 88 of the 112 (80%) medieval skeletons and in 28 of 138 (20%) of the living individuals. In both populations, Harris lines were found at age 2 and between ages 8 and 12. The occurrence of Harris lines was associated with degenerative bone disease, trauma, osteoporosis, peripheral vascular diseases, rickets, rheumatoid arthritis, and bony deformities. The authors concluded that the medieval populations in Switzerland probably experienced difficult living situations and poor hygienic conditions and the Harris lines in children of the population reflected poor care and neglect.