Vlasta Vyroubal

The harsh life on the 15th century Croatia‐Ottoman Empire military border: Analyzing and identifying the reasons for the massacre in Čepin

Excavation of the historic period cemetery in Cepin, Croatia revealed the presence of a large number of perimortem injuries distributed among males, females, and subadults. Archaeological and historical data suggest these individuals were victims of a raid carried out by Turkish akinji light cavalry in 1441. Comparisons with the frequencies of perimortem trauma in 12 other, temporally congruent skeletal series from the Balkans (n = 2,123 skeletons) support this assumption. The role of the akinji in the Ottoman army was twofold: to supply war captives, and to terrorize and disperse local populations before the advance of regular troops. This article tests the hypothesis that the purpose of the 1441 raid was the latter. To accomplish this, perimortem trauma in the series were analyzed by sex, age, location, and depth of the injury. A total of 82 perimortem injuries were recorded in 12 males, 7 females, and 3 subadults. The demographic profile of the victims suggests that young adults were specifically targeted in the attack. Significant sex differences are noted in the number, distribution, and pattern of perimortem trauma. Females exhibit significantly more perimortem injuries per individual, and per bone affected, than males. The morphology and pattern of perimortem trauma in females is suggestive of gratuitous violence. Cumulatively, analysis of the osteological data suggest that the objective of the 1441 akinji raid was to spread terror and panic in the Cepin area, either as revenge for recent military setbacks, or as part of a long-term strategy intended to depopulate the area around Osijek.

Assessing childhood stress in early mediaeval Croatia by using multiple lines of inquiry

ABSTRACT Childhood stress, using both subadult and adult remains from early mediaeval (8th-11th c. CE) sites on the eastern Adriatic coast is analysed in this report. A total of 242 individuals (83 subadults, 69 adult females, and 90 adult males) were assessed for the presence of linear enamel hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia, sub-periosteal new bone formation, and scurvy. In addition, the dietary profile of nine subadults was assessed by the analysis of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes from bulk collagen. Over three quarters of individuals with preserved permanent dentition (44/56 or 78.6%) exhibited evidence of linear enamel hypoplasia, while analysis of the onset of this condition shows that all defects formed between 1.2 and 5.6 years of age. Cribra orbitalia was identified in 60 out of 190 individuals with preserved frontal bones (31.6%). Sub-periosteal new bone formation was recorded in 42.6% of analysed subadults (29/68) with fourteen cases still active at the time of death. Additionally, scurvy was identified in three subadults. The isotopic study of carbon and nitrogen suggests that diet of the analysed subadults was based on terrestrial C3 resources, with a varying input from C4 and a low intake of marine resources. The presented study strongly indicates that a large majority of the analysed individuals suffered from poor health during their childhood as indicated by the high frequencies of linear enamel hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia and sub-periosteal new bone formation.