Growth and health status of children and adolescents in medieval Central Europe

Abstract

Subadult growth and health have been analyzed in three cemetery samples from medieval Poland, including two early-urban sites: Cedynia dated to the 10th-14th centuries AD, and Ostrów Lednicki dated to the 13th-15th centuries AD, and a rural site Słaboszewo dated to the 14th-17th centuries AD. The nutritional status was not expected to have substantially differed among the settlements, due to the culturally induced undiversified diet of children, and predominant share of medium-to-low status individuals. However, city life and village life were supposed to differ in factors correlated with the spread of infections, and as such it was expected to find significant differences in respiratory health among early-urban and rural dwellers.The prevalences of diet-dependent diseases, scurvy and rickets, were found to be statistically indistinguishable among the three studied populations, while higher frequency of skeletal signs of poor respiratory health was observed in early-urban Cedynia than rural Słaboszewo. Slightly lower prevalences of skeletal stress indicators were found for the rural than the early-urban site. Skeletal growth profiles and the dynamics of long bone growth were found to be remarkably similar for the early-urban samples (Cedynia and Ostrów Lednicki), with the rural subadults having the shortest diaphyseal lengths, and lower growth dynamics.It can be concluded that adverse factors associated with the urban settlement were more detrimental to respiratory health than those in the village. A variety of factors are potentially responsible for this pattern, including population density, building structure, quality of air and water, sanitation, and occupation. Perhaps, the key factor in response to environmental and socio-cultural constraints was the stability of living conditions in the village, which allowed the inhabitants to develop sufficient adaptive mechanisms. In contrast, the history of strongholds such as Cedynia was changeable due to political situation, military threats and migrations of people.

Variation in pelvic shape and size in Eastern European males: a computed tomography comparative study

“…The very low frequency of occurrence of Harris lines shows an absence of pathological and nutritional stress in this group (Piontek, Jerszyńska & Nowak, 2001). The prevalence of enamel hypoplasia in individuals from Cedynia fluctuates around 20% (Krenz-Niedbała, 2017), indicating the rare occurrence of physiological stress episodes during childhood. Compared to other European medieval populations, the analyzed group shows a low level of experience of stress events and nonspecific infections.…”

“…Compared to other European medieval populations, the analyzed group shows a low level of experience of stress events and nonspecific infections. Moreover, the medieval individuals constitute a homogenous group in terms of ethnicity and religion (Krenz-Niedbała, 2017).…”

The mechanical hypothesis of septal aperture formation tested in an early medieval population from Ostrów Lednicki (Poland)

“…The material used in this study came from an early medieval cemetery in Ostrów Lednicki (Poland) (mid‐11th to the end of the 12th century) (Ćwirko‐Godycki, ), an early urban site (stronghold) which played an important social and political role, as it was one of several residences of the Polish kings of that time (Krenz‐Niedbała, ). It was a skeletal burial cemetery.…”

How to calculate the age at formation of Harris lines? A step-by-step review of current methods and a proposal for modifications to Byers’ formulas

“…The disruption of chondrocytes proliferation or differentiation (presented on the right side) makes the growth plate impenetrable for osteoblasts, which in turn begin to create a mineralized layer along the horizontal layer of chondrocytes at the end of the epiphyseal plate; they form a primary stratum perpendicular to the long axis of the medullary cavity. Prolonged periods of growth arrest result in the thickening of the primary stratum, which leads to the deposition of a Harris line (Scott and Hoppa 2015) populations found in numerous studies (Piontek et al 2001;Beom et al 2014;Geber 2014;Zapala et al 2016;Krenz-Niedbała 2017). In addition, even if it will be concluded that HLs are poorly suited for determining the health of individuals (as it may be a result of non-pathological processes), they can still be useful for determining the overall health at the population level (Nowak and Piontek 2002b): assuming that the occurrence of HL unassociated with any pathologies is (more or less) constant, statistically different frequency of HL between the compared populations would result from different occurrence of HL associated with pathologies or physiological stress.…”

“…There was no statistically significant correlation between bone length and morphology and the occurrence of HL (Mays 1985;Nowak and Piontek 2002b). Moreover, numerous researchers have failed to find correlations between the age of enamel hypoplasia (EH) and HL formation, suggesting that HLs are a physiological rather than a pathological phenomenon (Piontek et al 2001;Beom et al 2014;Geber 2014;Zapala et al 2016;Krenz-Niedbała 2017). Due to the similarities between the somatotropin (growth hormone) secretion curves, the long bone growth curves, and the distribution of HLs, it was suggested that HLs are associated with physiological periods of faster and slower growth (Papageorgopoulou et al 2011).…”