Bioarchaeology of Copper Age populations in continental Croatia (Bioarheologija bakrenodobnih populacija na tlu kontinentalne Hrvatske)

Abstract

Bioarheološke analize su tijekom posljednja dva desetljeća postale standardnim dijelom znanstvenih analiza arheoloških nalazišta na prostoru Hrvatske. Nažalost, raniji istraživači, posebice sve do pred kraj osamdesetih godina prošloga stoljeća, ljudske su kosturne ostatke u najboljem slučaju skupili i pohranili u depoe te u većini slučajeva nedostaju podaci o cjelinama, kontekstu nalaza i dr., što danas znatno otežava mogućnost znanstvenih analiza. Tek su u rijetkim slučajevima na materijalu provedene antropološke analize nalaza (za detaljniji pregled bioarheoloških istraživanja na području Hrvatske vidi Rajić Šikanjić 2005.). Nadalje, bioarheolozi ponekad u terenskim dnevnicima, ili objavama istraživanja nalaze podatke u kojima se spominju i koštani ostaci, da bi nakon toga ustanovili da su oni tijekom godina netragom nestali. Srećom, stav suvremenih arheologa prema antropološkoj građi danas je drugačiji i pokazuje svijest o tome da nam ljudski ostaci (kao i ostale vrste biološke i druge građe iz arheološkog konteksta) mogu pružiti vrijedne podatke u interpretaciji minulih događaja, načina života, socijalne strukture, odnosa u zajednici, zdravstvenog stanja i dr. Nadalje, sve su češće i analize koje osim standardnih bioarheoloških metoda i tehnika, koriste i suvremena pomagala, metode i tehnike drugih znanosti-poput radiologije, kemijskih i genetičkih/genomičkih analiza i dr. Sve to je rezultiralo mnogim novim spoznajama i novim uvidima u prošlost.

Mass violence in Copper Age Europe: The massacre burial site from Potočani, Croatia

“…Antemortem well‐healed BFT has been recorded on four crania (three adult males and one young child) appearing on the parietal bones (three) and the frontal bone (one) (Janković & Novak, 2018). All antemortem injuries appear above the HBL.…”

“…The discovery was a result of an erosion caused by heavy rain that uncovered human remains (Potrebica & Balen, 2008). The subsequent archeological rescue excavations revealed a roughly circular pit of approximately 2 m in diameter and about 1 m in depth (partially destroyed on one side) containing numerous commingled, in certain cases still articulated, human skeletal remains (Jankovi c et al, 2017;Jankovi c & Novak, 2018; Figure 2). The position of the articulated remains indicates that the bodies were thrown into the pit randomly, without any care.…”

“…MNIs determined from other bones in the sample such as the femur, tibia, and/or mandible are consistent with that determined from frontal bones. Both sexes and all age groups except older adults are represented, with a majority of children and young adults (Jankovi c et al, 2017;Jankovi c & Novak, 2018;McClure et al, 2020). More precisely, the sample consists of one younger child, nine older children, 10 adolescents, 13 younger adults (four males and nine females), six middle-aged adults (five males and one female), and two adults (one male and one female) whose age-at-death could not be established with certainty (Table 1).…”

Genome-wide analysis of nearly all the victims of a 6200 year old massacre

“…The distribution of observable cranial injuries does not follow a specific pattern of age and sex—the injuries were observed in one boy aged between 2 and 5 years, one girl aged between 6 and 10 years, three boys and one girl aged between 11 and 17 years, five younger adults (18–35 years; one male and four females) and two middle-aged males (36–50 years). Most of the injuries are located on the lateral, posterior, and/or superior parts of the crania [ 22 , 23 ]. Nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes analysis indicates that the Potočani people are more enriched in δ 13 C and δ 15 N stable isotopes in comparison to other contemporaneous groups from continental Croatia, suggesting that they were generally consuming more animal products than their neighbors [ 25 ].…”

“…A comprehensive bioanthropological analysis of the skeletal remains from Potočani mass burial showed perimortem cranial injuries in 13 individuals (six children, three adult males and four adult females) located mostly on the side or the back of the head. The injuries caused by different weapons in combination with archaeological context and absolute dates point to a single episode of execution [ 22 , 23 ].…”