Tomasz Kozłowski

Analysis of mercury levels in historical bone material from syphilitic subjects--pilot studies (short report).

The aim of the present work is to study the remains of seven individuals with typical symptoms of tertiary syphilis in terms of mercury content in bones, thereby verifying whether they were subjected to treatment and, if they were, how long their organisms were exposed to toxic mercury fumes. Mercury was used, mainly in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period, as a preventive measure in case of individuals suffering from syphilis, a venereal disease, and also leprosy. Syphilitic patients treated this way should demonstrate increased concentration of mercury in their bones. The skeletons studied in the present work originate from various archaeological sites in southern and north-central Poland. The analyses concerned individuals with diagnosed syphilis as well as healthy individuals who constituted the control group. The analyses were performed by the LA-ICP-MS technique, with the use of laser Nd: YAG, Macro, 266 nm, New Wave, USA, coupled with Spectrometer Elan DRC-e Perkin Elmer, USA. The content analysis of the studied bone material revealed with high probability that the contact method of mercurial treatment was used only in the case of two women from north-central Poland, deceased at the turn of the 15th century at the earliest.

Diet and society in Poland before the state: stable isotope evidence from a Wielbark population (2 nd c. AD)

Abstract The 1st-4th c. AD Wielbark culture of Eastern Europe is relatively understudied bioarchaeologically due to the fragmentary nature of its cemeteries. Here, we report the first stable isotope analysis of Wielbark diet using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope signatures from both collagen and carbonate of 30 individuals from Rogowo, a 2nd c. Wielbark cemetery in North-Central Poland. Diet at Rogowo was primarily based on terrestrial foods and included millet, a C4 plant cultivated by many Slavic populations in Europe. Anadromous fish likely supplemented the diet, which is clarified when considering collagen and carbonate data in tandem. Stable isotope differences between the sexes indicate that men and women may have consumed different foods, although there is a possibility that women immigrated to Rogowo from an isotopically different region of Europe. No significant differences are noted in δ13C or δ15N of women with and without grave goods, suggesting little social differentiation within the Wielbark culture, at least in terms of daily food access. Reconstructing human diet in Europe through stable isotope analysis is problematic because of the relative isotopic homogeneity in this region of the world. This study further demonstrates the utility of using both carbonate and collagen stable isotope data in tandem to reconstruct past European diet.

Hunting for the LCT-13910*T Allele between the Middle Neolithic and the Middle Ages Suggests Its Absence in Dairying LBK People Entering the Kuyavia Region in the 8th Millennium BP

Populations from two medieval sites in Central Poland, Stary Brześć Kujawski-4 (SBK-4) and Gruczno, represented high level of lactase persistence (LP) as followed by the LCT-13910*T allele’s presence (0.86 and 0.82, respectively). It was twice as high as in contemporaneous Cedynia (0.4) and Śródka (0.43), both located outside the region, higher than in modern inhabitants of Poland (0.51) and almost as high as in modern Swedish population (0.9). In an attempt to explain the observed differences its frequency changes in time were followed between the Middle Neolithic and the Late Middle Ages in successive dairying populations on a relatively small area (radius ∼60km) containing the two sites. The introduction of the T allele to Kuyavia 7.4 Ka BP by dairying LBK people is not likely, as suggested by the obtained data. It has not been found in any of Neolithic samples dated between 6.3 and 4.5 Ka BP. The identified frequency profile indicates that both the introduction and the beginning of selection could have taken place approx. 4 millennia after first LBK people arrived in the region, shifting the value of LP frequency from 0 to more than 0.8 during less than 130 generations. We hypothesize that the selection process of the T allele was rather rapid, starting just after its introduction into already milking populations and operated via high rates of fertility and mortality on children after weaning through life-threatening conditions, favoring lactose-tolerant individuals. Facing the lack of the T allele in people living on two great European Neolithization routes, the Danubian and Mediterranean ones, and based on its high frequency in northern Iberia, its presence in Scandinavia and estimated occurrence in Central Poland, we propose an alternative Northern Route of its spreading as very likely. None of the successfully identified nuclear alleles turned out to be deltaF508 CFTR.

The Late Neolithic sepulchral and ritual place of site 14 in Kowal (Kuyavia, Central Poland)

Zusammenfassung: Forschungsgegenstand dieses Artikels ist ein Begräbnis- und Ritualplatz der Kugelamphoren-Kultur der Fundstätte 14 in Kowal (Zentral-Polen). Die Stätte umfasst einen Submegalithen sowie einen Ritualplatz mit Tiergräbern und einer menschlichen Bestattung. Der Komplex kann auf die Zeit zwischen 3250/3100 und 2400/2150 v. Chr. datiert werden. Analysen haben gezeigt, dass der Platz über eine lange Zeit benutzt wurde, und dass die durchgeführten Rituale sehr komplex waren. Beweise wurden gefunden, dass an einigen Stellen rituelle Handlungen ohne Unterbrechung über viele Jahre durchgeführt wurden und einzelne Tieropfer und Niederlegungen nur durch einen Zeitraum von wenigen Jahren voneinander getrennt waren. Die Fund-Struktur einiger Gruben zeigt eine sehr penible Organisation des geheiligten Platzes und ermöglicht an einigen Stellen sogar eine Unterscheidung in Nutz- und rituelle Zonen. Weitere wichtige Informationen wurden durch die Untersuchung einer menschlichen Grablege an dieser Stätte gewonnen. Die Analyse der Grabbeigaben hat deren Natur als rituelle Gaben gezeigt; weiter weist sie auf eine dominante Rolle von Tieren im täglichen Leben der verstorbenen Person hin. Wichtige Daten wurden durch die paläo-biologische Untersuchung der menschlichen Knochen gewonnen. Die paläo-serologische Analyse ergab die Blutgruppe der bestatteten Person. Dies ist der erste derartige Nachweis in der Geschichte der europäischen neolithischen Forschung. Bei den Ergebnissen der DNA-Analyse handelt es eines Vertreters der Kugelamphoren-Kultur in der Literatur und zudem um eine von nur wenigen solcher Untersuchungen eines neolithischen Menschen. Einige der nachgewiesenen Allele sind die ältesten Beispiele dieses speziellen Allel-Typs, die in menschlichen Überresten bis heute identifiziert wurden. Die DNA-Analysen belegen eine Laktose-Intoleranz der bestatteten Person, sie legen weiter eine genetische Verwandtschaft mit der Bevölkerung aus der Region des Fruchtbaren Halbmondes nahe. Die Analyse des stabilen Sauerstoff-Isotopen-Verhältnisses zeigt Muster für häufigeren Ortswechsel und das Entwöhnungsalter. Analysen von stabilen Kohlenstoff- und Stickstoff-Isotopen-Verhältnissen haben Rückschlüsse auf die Ernährung ermöglicht; besondere Aufmerksamkeit verdient die Tatsache, dass bis zu 25 % der Kohlenhydrat-haltigen Nahrung aus Hirse bestanden hat. Das ist der früheste Isotopen-gestützte Nachweis von Hirse in der menschlichen Ernährung in Mitteleuropa. Résumé: Le site 14 de Kowal en Pologne centrale, un complexe rituel appartenant à la culture des amphores globulaires, forme le sujet de cet article. Le site comporte un sub-mégalithe, une structure rituelle avec des dépôts d’animaux et une sépulture humaine. Il fut occupé pendant une longue période allant de 3250/3100 à 2400/2150 av. J.-C. et les rituels étaient complexes: certains furent célébrés au même endroit pendant longtemps, tandis que les sacrifices et dépôts d’animaux n’étaient séparés que par de courts intervalles de peutêtre quelques années. Le remplissage de plusieurs fosses démontre une organisation précise de l’espace sacré, et il a même été possible de faire une distinction entre les actes de déposition rituelle et les dépôts de type utilitaire à l’intérieur de ces fosses. L’étude de la sépulture humaine a également fourni d’importants indices. Il en ressort qu’un individu intentionnellement choisi parmi les membres de ‘l’aristocratie’ locale a été la victime d’un meurtre rituel. L’analyse du mobilier funéraire indique qu’il s’agit d’offrandes rituelles et suggère que les animaux jouaient un rôle déterminant dans la vie de cet individu. L’étude de ses ossements a fourni un important ensemble de données, y compris les résultats d’une analyse sérologique permettant d’identifier – pour la première fois pour le Néolithique européen – le groupe sanguin de cette homme. Dans une étude également pionnière pour la culture des amphores globulaires, l’analyse ADN a permis de décrire la composition génétique d’un de ses membres, une rareté dans les études sur le Néolithique. Certains allèles sont les plus anciens exemplaires d’un type particulier d’allèles jusqu’à présent découvert dans des restes humains. Les données de l’analyse de l’ADN de cet individu suggèrent qu’il était intolérant au lactose et qu’il avait des affinités génétiques avec le Croissant fertile. Les résultats de l’analyse des isotopes stables de l’oxygène peuvent être interprétés soit en termes de mobilité ou de sevrage. Ceux provenant de l’analyse des isotopes stables du carbone et de l’azote nous permettent de reconstruire l’alimentation de notre individu ; en particulier le millet fournissait jusqu’à 25 % de sa consommation en glucides. Ce résultat constitue le premier indice isotopique de la présence du millet dans l’alimentation des populations de l’Europe centrale. Abstract: Site 14 in Kowal (central Poland), a funerary and ritual place of the Globular amphora culture forms the subject of this article. The site includes a sub-megalith, a ritual feature with animal burials and a human burial. The complex can be dated to a period spanning from 3250/3100 to 2400/2150 BC; it was used over a long period, and the rituals carried out were complex. Rituals were performed over many years in certain areas, while individual acts of animal sacrifice and deposition may have been separated by a short interval of just a few years. The fill of some pits shows that the sacred space was carefully organised and it has been possible to distinguish between some utilitarian and ritual deposits within them. Other important information is provided by the study of a human burial discovered at the site. It is possible that a deliberately chosen individual from the tribal ‘aristocracy’ was the victim of a ritual murder. The analysis of the grave goods reveals that they were ritual offerings, and these suggest that animals played a dominant role in the deceased man’s daily life. The study of his bones provides important new insights, including those from a palaeo-serological analysis revealing his blood group, a first in the history of European Neolithic research. The results of DNA analysis constitute the first description of the genetic traits of a representative of the Globular amphora culture, among very few such DNA profiles available for a Neolithic person. Some of the alleles discovered are the oldest examples of particular alleles among those identified in human remains so far. DNA evidence suggests that the individual was lactose intolerant, and it demonstrates a genetic relationship with the Fertile Crescent. The analysis of stable oxygen isotope ratios shows patterns compatible with either residential mobility or weaning age. The analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios allowed us to reconstruct the individual’s diet; particular attention is drawn to the fact that up to 25 % of his carbohydrate diet consisted of millet. This is the earliest isotopic evidence for the presence of millet in the diet of people living in Central Europe.

Dealing with Difference: Using the Osteobiographies of a Woman with Leprosy and a Woman with Gigantism from Medieval Poland to Identify Practices of Care

This chapter uses the osteobiographies of two women from different sites in medieval Poland (Kaldus, twelfth to the first half of the thirteenth century and Ostrow Lednicki, the end of the twelfth and the beginning of the fourteenth century), in combination with analysis of mortuary practice, to consider individual experiences of pathology and possible receipt of care. The first individual described in this study is a female recovered from the Kaldus site, who displays pathological lesions indicating an advanced stage of (possibly lepromatous) leprosy. The location of her grave and the associated grave goods suggest that this individual, despite disfiguring disease, received mortuary treatment associated with those of a higher social status. The second individual is a ‘giant’ probably woman with an estimated stature of 215.5 cm, whose skeleton was discovered in the cemetery on the Ostrow Lednicki island. Osteomas of femur, extensive degenerative joint disease, probably healed fracture of the tibia and Harris’ lines were identified on her skeleton. Her remains did not receive a standard burial, but rather appear to have been deposited without care, which may suggest she was perceived as ‘different’ in death and may have been subject to different treatment by her community during her lifetime. The Index of Care (Tilley and Cameron, International Journal of Paleopathology 6:5–9, 2014) is employed in assessing the likely impacts of disease and associated care requirements for these two very distinctive women, and the conclusions drawn from this process, combined with those of the respective mortuary analyses, form the basis for developing a deeper understanding of these subjects’ contrasting social identities.

Analysis of medieval mtDNA from Napole cemetery provides new insights into the early history of Polish state

Abstract Contemporary historical anthropology and classical archaeology are concerned not only with such fundamental issues as the origins of ancient human populations and migration routes, but also with the formation and development of inter-population relations and the mixing of gene pools as a result of inter-breeding between individuals representing different cultural units. The contribution of immigrants to the analysed autochthonous population and their effect on the gene pool of that population has proven difficult to evaluate with classical morphological methods. The burial of one individual in the studied Napole cemetery located in central Poland had the form of a chamber grave, which is typical of Scandinavian culture from that period. However, this fact cannot be interpreted as absolute proof that the individual (in the biological sense) was allochtonous. This gives rise to the question as to who was actually buried in that cemetery. The ancient DNA results indicate that one of the individuals had an mtDNA haplotype typical of Iron Age northern Europe, which suggests that he could have arrived from that area at a later period. This seems to indirectly confirm the claims of many anthropologists that the development of the early medieval Polish state was significantly and directly influenced by the Scandinavians.

Optical properties of diarylethylene polymers

In this paper, we present the optical properties such as absorption, luminescence and IR transmission spectra of 2-styrylquinoline containing polymers thin films. We notice that the extension of the polymer chain in these compounds causes the change their spectroscopic and physical properties.