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Preliminary osteological investigation of early medieval site Gz 10 in Giecz, Poland

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Justus H. M., Agnew A. M.

Studia Lednickie

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2017

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vol. 16

61-67

PL

Badania wykopaliskowe na nowo odkrytym wczesnośredniowiecznym cmentarzysku w Gieczu (woj. wielkopolskie) dostarczyły interesującej kolekcji kości ludzkich. Stanowisko 10., zlokalizowane zaledwie 500 m w kierunku NW od stanowiska 4., zostało odkryte w 2013 roku podczas rutynowej prospekcji terenowej prowadzonej przez pracowników Rezerwatu Archeologicznego Gród Wczesnopiastowski w Gieczu, oddziału Muzeum Pierwszych Piastów na Lednicy. W latach 2015 i 2016 autorki artykułu uczestniczyły w badaniach wykopaliskowych na stanowisku, obejmując opiekę na materiałem kostnym i rozpoczynając jego analizę antropologiczną, której wstępne wyniki przedstawia niniejszy artykuł. Do tej pory odkryto groby 55 osobników. Większość (51%; n=28) stanowiły szkielety dzieci i młodzieży, spośród których prawie 80% w momencie śmierci miało mniej niż sześć lat. Spośród osobników zmarłych w dorosłym wieku (trzynaście kobiet, dwunastu mężczyzn, dwie osoby o nieokreślonej płci) większość (37%; n=10) zmarła pomiędzy 35 a 50 rokiem życia. Na kościach i zębach zaobserwowano typowe wskaźniki stresu biologicznego, takie jak liniowa hipoplazja szkliwa czy zagojone cribra oribitalia i porotic hyperostosis, jak również ślady infekcji, chorób przyzębia czy urazy przedśmiertne. Dodatkowo rozpoczęto analizy pod kątem chorób zwyrodnieniowych stawów, ogólnej budowy ciała czy odległości biologicznej. Badania te będą kontynuowane podczas najbliższych sezonów wykopaliskowych prowadzonych równolegle ze Szkołą Letnią Archeologii w Gieczu organizowaną przez Rezerwat Archeologiczny w Gieczu we współpracy z Fundacją Slavia.

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Wyniki prac antropologicznych w krypcie kościoła oo. Franciszkanów w Gnieźnie

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Wrzesińska A.

Studia Lednickie

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2023

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issue XXII

191-243

EN

The osteological material obtained during the renovation and restoration works carried out in 2016 in the crypt of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Franciscan Fathers in Gniezno was subjected to anthropological studies. Numerous human remains located loosely in the crypt were examined and put in order. In the course of the analysis, it was determined that they came from no less than 41 individuals, who died at various ages and who were of different sexes. The ossuary was also examined, where the deposited human remains belonged to no less than 111 individuals.

PL

Opracowaniu antropologicznemu poddano materiał osteologiczny pozyskany podczas prac remontowo-konserwatorskich prowadzonych w roku 2016 w krypcie kościoła oo. Franciszkanów w Gnieźnie pw. Wniebowzięcia NMP. Przebadano i uporządkowano znajdujące się luźno w krypcie liczne szczątki ludzkie. W toku analizy uznano, że pochodzą one od nie mniej niż 41 osobników, zmarłych w różnym wieku i o różnej płci. Przebadano również ossuarium, w którym zdeponowane szczątki ludzkie należały do nie mniej niż 111 osobników.

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Wyniki prac antropologicznych w krypcie kościoła oo. Franciszkanów w Gnieźnie

100%

Wrzesińska A.

Studia Lednickie

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2023

191-243

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.

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Past inhabitants of Garbary – a biocultural perspective

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Przesmycka A., Dryja S., Szostek K., Niedźwiecka E., Lempart A., Haduch E.

Folia Historica Cracoviensia

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2015

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vol. 21

209-249

EN

The present work analyses the bone material unearthed at the graveyard of St Peter the Little’s Church in Garbary. The study is based on research from the years 1978 and 2012. A total of 111 skeletons were analysed, all of them of medium condition, dating back to the modern period. The material’s diversity level was verified by biological distance assessment. Ward’s method was used for selected measurement features of the neurocranium and the facial skeleton. Sex and age were established simultaneously by means of methods commonly applied in anthropology. The assessment was based on the morphology of the skull and pelvic bones as well as the deciduous and permanent teeth eruption sequence. Cranial measurements and indices were subjected to analysis. Osteometric data provided the basis for an analysis of long bone symmetry, limb length and proportions and bone massiveness indices. A multi-planar reconstruction of individuals’ stature was performed by means of regression formulas developed by various authors. Sexual dimorphism index served indirectly as a measurement of the living conditions of individuals in the population, whereas an analysis of muscular and skeletal stress markers on bones allowed us to evaluate build types. Calculated life expectancy table parameters were used to recreate e.g. individuals’ lifespans and life expectancy structure (by age at death) characteristic of historical populations of Krakow.

PL

W pracy dokonano analizy materiału kostnego wyeksplorowanego z obszaru cmentarza przy kościele św. Piotra Małego na Garbarach. Badania prowadzone były w latach 1978 i 2012. Analizie poddano 111 szkieletów, o średnim stanie zachowania, datowanych na okres nowożytny. Sprawdzono stopień różnorodności materiału z wykorzystaniem oceny odległości biologicznej. Zastosowano metodę Warda dla wybranych cech pomiarowych mózgoczaszki i twarzoczaszki. Płeć i wiek zostały ocenione kompleksowo z zastosowaniem metod powszechnie przyjętych w antropologii. Wykorzystano ku temu morfologię czaszki i kości miednicznych, jak również sekwencję wyrzynania się zębów mlecznych i stałych. Analizie poddano pomiary i wskaźniki czaszek. W oparciu o pomiary osteometryczne wykonano analizę symetryczności kości długich, długości i proporcji kończyn oraz wskaźników masywności kości. Wielopłaszczyznową rekonstrukcję wysokości ciała osobników przeprowadzono przy użyciu równań regresji różnych autorów. Wskaźnik dymorfizmu płciowego pośrednio posłużył jako miara warunków życia osobników w populacji, natomiast analiza wyznaczników stresu mięśniowo-szkieletowego na kościach pozwoliła na ocenę typu budowy ciała. Obliczone parametry tablicy wymieralności posłużyły odtworzeniu m.in. długości życia osobników i struktury wymieralności według wieku zmarłych zachodzącej w jednej z dawnych populacji krakowskich.

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Opracowanie antropologiczne szczątków ludzkich z wczesnośredniowiecznego cmentarzyska rzędowego w Gołuniu, stan. 23/24, woj. wielkopolskie

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Wrzesińska A.

Studia Lednickie

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2015

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vol. 14

177-237

EN

The Early Medieval cemetery in Gołuń is archaeologically dated to the period from the end of the 10th c. to the mid-11th c. (Małgorzata Talarczyk-Andrałojć in this volume). The span of use of the cemetery was about 50 years. In the nearest neighbourhood there is no other uncovered and examined cemetery from this period. Only in the second half of the 11th c. did two cemeteries in a close vicinity commence to exist next to each other — Dziekanowice Site 2 and Dziekanowice Site 22. Both are situated on the eastern coast of Lake Lednica (to the north, c. 10 km from Gołuń). The anthropological analysis first of all concerned the age and sex assessment (of adult individuals) (Table 1), the structure of deaths for the examined cemetery (Table 2) and the reconstruction of intravital body height, done individually for each adult individual (Table 5; Table 6). Based on measurements of the long bones of the upper and lower limbs, the average intravital body height of the examined individuals was reconstructed. It was found that the inhumation burials and stray human bones belong to no less than 54 individuals. The bones of 5 individuals were found in 2007, while the bones of another 49 individuals were discovered in 2011 (Table 1). The group of children’s burials was composed of 10 skeletons (or skeleton fragments). Among these, 7 died at the age of Infans I, while three — at the age of Infans II (for one individual the age was assessed as 13–15 years, i.e., the end of Infans II and the beginning of Juvenis). 4 burials were classified as juvenile persons (the age of Juvenis): 3 of these were female burials and 1 was a male burial. 13 individuals died at the age of Adultus: 3 females and 10 males. Yet another burial was that of a woman who died at the age of Adultus–Maturus. 13 individuals died at the age of Maturus: 4 females and 9 males. One man died at the age of Maturus–Senilis. 7 persons: 3 females and 4 males died at the age of Senilis. Gender was assessed for 39 adult or juvenile individuals. 14 female individuals and 25 male individuals were isolated. For 5 individuals their age was assessed as “Adult” (Table 2). The state of health of the examined group can be assessed, with some approximation, on the basis of the changes which have come into existence in the bones [Gładykowska-Rzeczycka, Sokół 2000]. In the group of analysed skeletons, lesions of disease were found within 34 skeletons (Table 1), more often in male than female ones (22:10). Two skeletons with recorded lesions of disease belonged to children (Table 1). The bone material was measured using the anthropometric technique. Individual results for each person are offered in the Tables. A poor state of preservation of the bone material rendered most measurements impossible. The obtained results of intravital body height, separately for women and men, were compared with data for various Early Medieval skeleton series from the territory of Poland. The average height of female individuals (157.9 cm) and male individuals (169.3 cm) buried in the cemetery in Gołuń displays the greatest similarity to a series from Dziekanowice 2 (women 157.0 cm, men 170.1 cm) [Henneberg, Puch 1989: Table 7, p. 153]. We can assume that the group buried in the cemetery in Gołuń was remarkable for their considerable body heights. These values are higher than the average value of this trait in the Early Middle Ages in Poland (men — 165.7 cm, women — 153.6 cm) [Stolarczyk, Lorkiewicz 1993]. Thus, the body height of individuals from this population was above the average in this period. Thanks to the detailed anthropological analysis of the examined bone remains, it was possible to carry out a reconstruction of mortality processes in the group from Gołuń. The distribution of mortality of the examined group (Table 9) diverged from the mortality model which is typical for prehistoric populations [Henneberg, Strzałko 1975; Piontek 1979]. What is absent are evenly distributed frequencies of mortality of the adult individuals, and the frequency of mortality of children too is low (18.5%). If one assumes, however, that this is a reflection of the actual mortality conditions in the examined group, it would be necessary to state that the group from Gołyń does not significantly differ from other groups from the territory of Poland in terms of their biological condition. Differences in values of individual measures, i.e., the percentage of individuals who lived until the age of x (lx), the probability of death (qx), and the average further continuation of life of an individual at the age of x (eo x) (Table 9 and 11), confirm the observations of Janusz Piontek [1979] on the considerable diversification of biological conditions of local groups in historical periods. The anthropological analysis of even such a small and poorly preserved group can be a valuable contribution to the reconstruction of the structure and the age of the dead and the reconstruction of the biostructure of this population. Based on the nature of the changes, we are able to say that in spite of the fact that in a majority of cases the dead suffered from childhood diseases related to periodical malnutrition, they belonged to a “wealthy” group, whose living conditions were at least good. The adult population rather suffered from diseases progressing with age than from too onerous physical labour.

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4 Studia Lednickie

1 Folia Historica Cracoviensia

3 Wrzesińska A.

1 Agnew A. M.

1 Dryja S.

1 Haduch E.

1 Justus H. M.

1 Lempart A.

1 Niedźwiecka E.

1 Przesmycka A.

1 Szostek K.

2 2023

1 2017

2 2015

Preliminary osteological investigation of early medieval site Gz 10 in Giecz, Poland

Wyniki prac antropologicznych w krypcie kościoła oo. Franciszkanów w Gnieźnie

Wyniki prac antropologicznych w krypcie kościoła oo. Franciszkanów w Gnieźnie

Past inhabitants of Garbary – a biocultural perspective

Opracowanie antropologiczne szczątków ludzkich z wczesnośredniowiecznego cmentarzyska rzędowego w Gołuniu, stan. 23/24, woj. wielkopolskie