Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.33254/piaz.39.1.5
Bioarchaeological study of the population of Gora near Petrinja, Croatia
Željka Bedić
orcid.org/0000-0002-0134-5399
; Anthropological centre, Croatian Academy of Science and Art, Zagreb, Croatia
Juraj Belaj
orcid.org/0000-0001-8953-3820
; Institute of Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Filomena Sirovica
orcid.org/0000-0001-6662-8915
; Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The analysis comprised of 50 skeletons from the sacristy of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Gora, buried from the beginning of the 11th century until the end of the 16th or the beginning of the 17th century and chronologically divided into four burial phases. In all phases, a high average age at death was observed in females, who are noticeably underrepresented in all the phases except the first. The highest mortality of subadults was recorded between 2 and 8 years of age, when physiological stress is greatest. Indicators of subadult stress have been recorded in all phases, suggesting poor living conditions and inadequate diet. This is further indicated by the cases of scurvy in the first and second phases as well as infectious diseases in the first (leprosy) and fourth (tuberculosis) phases. On the other hand, the Gora sample generally had a low frequency of traumas, most of them related to accidental injuries. However, the presence of intentional violence is indicated by a perimortem trauma in a subadult from the first phase and an antemortem trauma on the nasal bones of a female from the fourth phase. The relatively small sample had a surprisingly large number of pathological changes, a high frequency of subadult stress indicators, and the presence of intentional violence; indicating unfavourable living conditions in this area in all the considered phases.
Keywords
Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; sacristy; cemetery; burial phases; bioarchaeological analysis; scurvy; infectious diseases; trauma
Hrčak ID:
280991
URI
Publication date:
28.7.2022.
Visits: 996 *