Health, diet, and mortuary practices in the countryside of Byzantine and post‐Byzantine Boeotia: The case of Hagios Sozon in Orchomenos

Abstract

This paper explores issues of health, diet, and mortuary practices in the countryside of Boeotia, Central Greece, during the Byzantine and post-Byzantine periods (12th-19th centuries AD). Boeotia was one of the Byzantine Empire's most important economic and artistic centers with a flourishing life in the cities and the countryside alike and a varied (socially and culturally) population. The human remains unearthed in connection to the church of Hagios Sozon in Orchomenos were analyzed to investigate the everyday challenges and social makeup of the inhabitants in the countryside.The examination of paleopathological lesions and stable isotopes (carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur) in combination showed moderate living conditions, a homogenous terrestrial diet, and signs of mobility, while the consumption of freshwater food sources was not detected, despite the vicinity to Lake Copais. Finally, social differentiation was suggested through the construction of a family burial structure and the mortuary treatment for preterms, perinates, and infants.