Paleodemographic and paleopathological analyses of the mediaeval graveyard Svećurje - Žestinj

Autorice će u ovom radu dati pregled paleodemografske strukture te iznijeti rezultate paleopatološke analize srednjovjekovnog lokaliteta Svećurje – Žestinj. Ukupno su analizirane 43 osobe, od kojih 26 djece, 6 žena te 11 muškaraca. Iz podataka o demografskoj strukturi, pokazateljima subadultnog stresa i mehaničkog opterećenja, patoloških i traumatskih promjena, doneseni su zaključci o kvaliteti života zajednice te su uspoređeni s drugim ranosrednjovjekovnim populacijama.The paper gives an overview of the paleodemographic structure and presents the results of the paleopathological analysis of the mediaeval site Svećurje – Žestinj. The analysis included 43 persons, out of which 26 were children, 6 women and 11 men. The data on demographic structure, indicators of subadult and mechanical stress, pathological and traumatic changes lead to conclusions on the quality of life in this community, which were also compared to other early mediaeval populations. In terms of pathological changes, indicators of subadult stress, precisely cribra orbitalia and enamel hypoplasia, were present in a high percentage. These results show that the people at site Svećurje-Žestinj were most of their lives malnourished and even the children were not spared from starvation. The frequency of caries is slightly higher (according to the number of teeth) than on other comparable sites, as well as the overall frequency of all alveolar diseases. However, this difference does not present a statistically significant difference, but rather fits into the average of early mediaeval populations and indicates to a low standard of oral hygiene. The overall high frequency of periostitis indicates to a greater exposure to infectious diseases whose outcome was uncertain until the discovery of antibiotics. The comparison with other sites from the Early Middle Ages shows a lower frequency of osteoarthritis than on comparable sites. A higher frequency of Schmorl’s nodes was registered in females than in males which may suggest that even women were exposed to a high amount of physical work. The analysis’ results for traumata indicate that the exposure to violence was not high and without significant fluctuations throughout the Middle Age