Original scientific paper
Anthropological Analysis of the Konjsko polje/Livade Cemetery in the Context of other Croatian early medieval Cemeteries in Dalmatia
Mario Novak
; Odsjek za arheologiju Hrvatske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti, Zagreb
Vlasta Vyroubal
orcid.org/0000-0002-5336-9763
; Odsjek za arheologiju Hrvatske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti, Zagreb
Željka Bedić
orcid.org/0000-0002-0134-5399
; HR, Varaždin Zavojna 5
Mario Šlaus
; Odsjek za arheologiju Hrvatske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti,Zagreb
Abstract
Extensive anthropological research conducted on osteological human materials from Konjsko strongly suggest that this community was an early Croatian population. Even though it has already been hypothesized that the cemetery at Konjsko belonged to the sphere of early Croatian cemeteries of the ninth to eleventh centuries based on archaeological discoveries, anthropological analyses now provide additional backing for this view. The bioarchaeological characteristics of the sample from Konjsko and the composite early Croatian samples are very similar, which suggests an identical quality of life at all sites. Some differences between the samples (frequency of dental pathologies) are most likely the result of normal fluctuations and statistical variations in small samples such as that from Konjsko. The somewhat lower frequency of caries and dental enamel hypoplasia in Konjsko may suggest that at least some of the diet of this population was based on hunting, but at this point this cannot be confirmed with any certainty. What both samples have in common is a high frequency of cribrae orbitaliae and non-specific infectious disease, and the synergy between anaemia and non-specific infectious disease is probably the cause of high child mortality in both samples, particularly in the earliest age groups. The relatively low frequency of long-bone trauma and the absence of cranial/head trauma and perimortem trauma in Konjsko suggests a low degree of physical risk in this population. This work also once more stresses the benefits of such types of analysis in attempts to shed light on the everyday lives of our ancestors, particularly when no written records of this exist and archaeological finds do not provide sufficiently clear picture.
Keywords
Konjsko polje/Livade; early Croatian populations; anthropological analysis; sub-adult stress; non-specific infectious disease; trauma
Hrčak ID:
81353
URI
Publication date:
14.10.2008.
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