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Reconstructing the seasonality of catastrophic events in the medieval mass graves in Kutná Hora-Sedlec (Czechia, 14th century) using cementochronology
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SYSNO ASEP 0575784 Document Type A - Abstract R&D Document Type O - Ostatní Title Reconstructing the seasonality of catastrophic events in the medieval mass graves in Kutná Hora-Sedlec (Czechia, 14th century) using cementochronology Author(s) Zazvonilová, Eliška (ARU-G) ORCID, RID, SAI
Brzobohatá, Hana (ARU-G) RID, SAI, ORCID
Frolík, Jan (ARU-G) RID, SAI, ORCID
Velemínský, P. (CZ)
Brůžek, J. (CZ)Number of authors 5 Source Title 29th EAA Annual Meeting (Belfast, Northern Ireland 2023). Abstract book. - Belfast : European Association of Archaeologists, 2023 / Karabáš M. ; Kleinová K. - ISBN 978-80-88441-05-2
S. 946-947Number of pages 2 s. Publication form Online - E Action Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists /29./ Event date 30.08.2023 - 02.09.2023 VEvent location Belfast Country GB - United Kingdom Event type WRD Language eng - English Country GB - United Kingdom Keywords cementochronology ; Middle Ages ; mass graves ; season-of-death estimation Subject RIV AC - Archeology, Anthropology, Ethnology OECD category Archaeology R&D Projects GA21-09637S GA ČR - Czech Science Foundation (CSF) Institutional support ARU-G - RVO:67985912 Annotation Famine or epidemic periods were not exceptional in the Middle Ages in Europe. These catastrophic events are evidenced by the extreme changes in the funerary ritual (mass graves). This is also the case of medieval Kutná Hora-Sedlec (Czechia, 14th century), where 32 mass graves were excavated during rescue excavations. Their chronology is based on the stratigraphic configuration with two levels of pits. Based on historical documents mentioning a period of famine in 1318 and plague epidemics in 1348-1350, radiocarbon dating, and coins, the presence of mass graves can probably be linked to these catastrophic events. In this study, we aimed to understand better the differences between these two groups of mass graves, focusing on estimating the season-at-death of 42 individuals buried in them based on cementochronology. Given that famine and plague epidemics are strongly linked to the environment, socio-economic conditions, or climate changes and exhibit seasonal dynamics, the differences in seasonality may contribute to clarifying the causes of mass graves or the connection with documented historical events. Our results showed that each group of mass graves corresponds to one season (graves: A, B = spring/summer, graves: C, D, E = autumn/winter), hypothetically related to different seasonal peaks of mortality of famine and plague periods, supported by historical documents. This study was supported by Czech Science Foundation (21-09637S) and Ministry of Culture (DRKVO 019-2023/7.I.e, 0002327). Workplace Institute of Archaeology (Prague) Contact Lada Šlesingerová, slesingerova@arup.cas.cz, Tel.: 257 014 412 Year of Publishing 2024 Electronic address https://submissions.e-a-a.org/repository/preview.php?id=19056
Number of the records: 1