Entheseal Changes: Do They Reflect Socioeconomic Status in the Early Medieval Central European Population? (Mikulčice – Klášteřisko, Great Moravian Empire, 9th – 10th century)

Abstract

Entheseal changes (EC) of skeletons are supposed to reflect the physical activity of our ancestors. Similarly, the elements of the burial rite (e.g. grave goods, burial depth) are presumed to be related to the social status of individuals. The aim of this study was to verify the existence of relationships between EC distribution and archaeological descriptors providing information on social status. Fibrocartilaginous entheses of upper and lower limb bones of 115 individuals (aged 20–50 years) from the early medieval burial site Mikulčice – Klášteřisko were evaluated using Villotte's method (2006). Factor analysis (FA) was applied two times with two different combinations of descriptors: (i) FA‐1 based on the archaeological characteristics; (ii) FA‐2 based on the distribution of EC for males and females separately. The second step was important for the validation of results acquired from archaeological data. It is possible to link several models of EC distribution with selected archaeological characteristics. (i) The relationship between EC and archaeological descriptors is more visible in males than females. (ii) Males with warrior equipment and deep graves very probably belonged to the higher social class and are characterised by the loading of the triceps brachii on the olecranon and of the gluteus medius on the femur. (iii) Males with shallower graves and objects of daily use more typically demonstrate an occurrence of EC at the insertion site of the wrist flexors or extensors. The clear links demonstrated in males were absent in females. There exists only a weak relationship between the descriptor jewellery and the incidence of EC at the insertion sites of the shoulder and certain insertion sites of the lower limbs (especially the hip rotators). This poorly significant relationship supports our previous hypothesis that females from Mikulčice performed the same activities regardless their socioeconomic status. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Locomotor activity influences muscle architecture and bone growth but not muscle attachment site morphology

“…Muscle attachment sites (entheses) are used by researchers in fields as diverse as bioarchaeology and palaeontology to infer cultural behaviour (Weiss, 2007; Molnar, 2010), technology use (Eshed et al, 2004; Marzke et al, 2007; Drapeau, 2008), subsistence strategies (Hawkey, 1998), labour differences (Churchill and Morris, 1998; Villotte et al, 2010; Weiss, 2010; Havelková et al, 2011; Niinimäki, 2011; Niinimäki and Sotos, 2013), social stratification (Molnar, 2006; Havelková et al, 2011, 2013; Henderson et al, 2013; Nolte and Wilczak, 2013), locomotor patterns (Davis, 1964; McGowan, 1979; Eliot and Jungers, 2000; Wang et al, 2004; Zumwalt, 2005, 2006), and evolutionary pathways (Davis, 1964; McGowan, 1979; Eliot and Jungers, 2000; Wang et al, 2004; Marzke and Shrewsbury, 2006; Drapeau, 2008). …”

Stable isotope evidence for diet in early medieval Great Moravia (Czech Republic)

“…Archaeological excavations in the Mikulčice settlement agglomeration have uncovered over 2500 burials mostly associated with church cemeteries (Poláček, 2008). Previous bioarchaeological analyses of Mikulčice skeletal remains have revealed aspects of lifestyle of the Great Moravian populations, including sex-and/or status-based differences in health, physical activity, and diet (Bigoni et al, 2013;Garcin et al, 2010;Havelková et al, 2011Havelková et al, , 2013Velemínský et al, 2009). Analyses of dental and skeletal indicators of health have provided evidence for poorer health in rural compared to urban (castle and subcastle) inhabitants, with higher incidences of cribra orbitalia and linear enamel hypoplasias in the former (Garcin et al, 2010;Velemínský et al, 2009).…”

“…A comparison between castle and hinterland sites within the Mikulčice agglomeration revealed that males from the agricultural hinterland have the highest prevalence of enthesopathies, presumably due to activities associated with farming, such as tilling and harvesting of crops using sickles (Havelková et al, 2011). At the sub-castle site of Mikulčice-Klášteřisko, the location of entheseal changes was found to be associated with archaeological indicators of social status (burial features and type of grave goods (Havelková et al, 2013)). Status-based dietary differences have also been proposed based on a higher degree of cranial directional asymmetry in individuals buried in the sub-castle versus castle area at Mikulčice (Bigoni et al, 2013).…”

The quest for the soldier’s rest: combining anthropological and archaeochemical approaches to study social and occupational diversity in the medieval graveyard of San Andrés de Arroyo (Palencia, Spain)

“…It is widely accepted that EC reflect the effect of muscle usage throughout the course of life. However, factors such as the age (Milella et al, 2012;Henderson, 2013;Niinimäki and Baiges Sotos, 2013;Takigawa, 2014;Schrader, 2015), sexual differences due to the existing gender-based differences between endocrine and metabolic systems (Havelková et al, 2013) alongside the particular anatomy of the attachment site have been claimed to be related to the level of the EC expression (Villotte et al, 2010b;Milella et al, 2012). From a medical point of view, EC can be induced by numerous conditions, ranging from pathological to behavioural (Jurmain, 2009).…”

“…Notwithstanding the questions concerning the possibility of establishing a relation between EC and activity, some recent studies of EC of skeletons are based on the hypothesis that the EC reflect the physical activity of our forebears (Lieverse et al, 2009;Havelková et al, 2013;Henderson, 2013;Lieverse et al, 2013;Villotte and Knüsel, 2014;Schrader, 2015). This is due to the fact that specific movements carried out frequently affect both the structure and morphology of entheses (Benjamin and Hillen, 2003;Galtés et al, 2006).…”