Pathological manifestations on children and adolescents' skeletal remains from the Lower Volga region (a case study of anthropological materials from Golden Horde settlements)
The paper analyses the causes of pathological conditions discovered on the bone remains in children and adolescents from town cemeteries of the Golden Horde period in the Lower Volga region. Materials and methods. The skeletal material of the study included 189 bones: 11 skeletal remains from the necropolises of Vodyansky fortress, 43 from the necropolises of Tsarevsky settlement, 48 from the Vakurovsky underground burial mound, and 86 from the Mayachny bugor mound of the Krasnoyarsk hillfort. The standard method of studying pathological abnormalities on the human skeleton was used. In order to reveal osteoporosis of the bone tissue, methodical recommendations given in the works of D. Ortner, M. Eriksen, D. Ortner, V. Butler et al. were used. Results. The study of anthropological series made it possible to get the age characteristics of the groups, to identify pathological abnormalities in the dental system, markers of microelements deficiencies in the body, as well as inflammatory processes in the cranial box and the postcranial skeleton. As a result of the review of the series, it was established that children in the large cities of the Golden Horde in the Lower Volga region most often died before the age of 3 years. Discussion. Diseases arising from the lack of trace elements Fe, vitamins C and B12 were the main factors affecting child mortality in the Golden Horde cities. The causes of the widespread physiological stress markers, as well as such diseases as scurvy and anemia, are exogenous and include ecology, diet, and lifestyle. As a result of the assessment of the time and nature of the development of mineralized deposits and enamel hypoplasia, the authors observed stress markers that developed during the transition from breastfeeding to solid food.