Health And Empires: Implications For Political Development On The Health Of The Inhabitants Of Great Moravia (9Th--10Th Centuries)

Abstract

The early medieval period was a time of great change in Europe. Politically thee empires ruled Europe: Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire, the Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire. During this time early cities began to form in Europe, and new patterns of settlement developed. Great Moravia was a state level society in the southeastern region of the Czech Republic during the late 9th and early 10th centuries. This thesis explores the impact of urban development on the health of its inhabitants. In order to do this, rural (Josefov and Lahovice) and urban (Mikulcice-Kostelisko) skeletal populations were examined for cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, and linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH). Cribra orbitalia had a consistently low frequency in all populations. This suggests that anemia (often due to chronic parasitic infection and subsequent malnutrition) was present, but at a low level. LEH frequency was significantly higher, with more age of occurrence variation in the urban population. The results of this thesis suggest that despite the advantages of greater wealth and access to greater amount of food (and food varieties) urban populations were under more stress than rural populations. These results have implications about the impact of urban development and migration in modern developing nations.