Wyniki prac antropologicznych w krypcie kościoła oo. Franciszkanów w Gnieźnie

• Authors: Wrzesińska Anna

Title variants

EN

Results of anthropological work in the crypt of the Franciscan church in Gniezno

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The subject of this study was the abundant osteological material from the renovation and preservation works carried out in 2016 in the crypt of the Franciscan Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Gniezno (Fig. 1). During the works, human skeletal material characterized by significant destruction of bone structures was extracted from under the crypt floor and from the ossuary from the disturbed layers. In the analysis of skeletal material and with an intention to assess the general number of individuals, without the knowledge on how large was the space where the bones were collected and what was their position in relation to each other, it was only possible to attempt a minimal count of the number of individuals. Assuming the compactness of the site and the occurrence of bones on a small area (where most of the bones are from the same damaged skeletons), it was possible to estimate a lower limit of the number of individuals. Thanks to the precise indications of the anthropological analysis, which allowed the detailed determination of both the age and sex of some of the individuals examined, as well as the distinguished bone materials duplicated in the course of the expertise, the research was mainly supported by the highest recorded frequency among the bones, i.e. the skull bones, the occurrence of femurs, tibias and arm bones. The results of the study were included in measurement tables, separately for the burials of children and separately for adult individuals, male and female. The analysis of the material made it possible to determine that remains from under the floor were obtained from no less than 41 individuals, of different ages and sexes: children of the youngest Infans I (5), older children Infans II (3), juvenile Juvenis (4), Juvenis-Adultus (1), and adult and elderly individuals, no less than 28. Male burials were the most numerous – the probable ages were Adultus, Adultus-Maturus, Maturus, Senilis or “adult” age. Fewer female individuals were recorded – those who died at Adultus, Maturus, Maturus-Senilis, Senilis ages. The ossuary was also examined, where the deposited human remains belonged to no less than 111 individuals. The remains of burials of the youngest children Infans I (8), older children Infans II (3), juvenile individuals Juvenis (5) and adult and elderly individuals were uncovered here, numbering no less than 95. Male burials were the most numerous – the probable ages were Adultus, Adultus-Maturus, Maturus, Maturus-Senilis, Senilis or “adult” age. Fewer female individuals were recorded – probable ages Juvenis-Adultus, Adultus, Maturus, Maturus-Senilis, Senilis and “adult” (see Table 14). It is difficult to determine unequivocally the time of the original deposition of the burials whose remains have been discussed. However, both anthropological analysis and scraps of cloth and modest devotional items suggest that the described fragments belonged to the deceased buried on the grounds of the Franciscan monastery during the late 18th-19th centuries.

Keywords

PL

Gniezno,; krypta kościoła oo. Franciszkanów,; uszkodzone groby,; ossuarium,; osteologia

EN

Gniezno,; crypt of the Church of the Franciscans,; damaged graves,; ossuary,; osteology

• Publisher: Muzeum Pierwszych Piastów na Lednicy
• Journal: Studia Lednickie
• Year: 2023
• Pages: 191-243

Dates

published

2023

Contributors

author

Wrzesińska Anna

• Muzeum Pierwszych Piastów na Lednicy

• https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0603-356X

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