engleski

New insights from trauma analysis of skeletal remains from the Benedictine monastery in Bijela, Croatia

The ruins of the Benedictine monastery of St. Margaret are situated in Bijela, near Daruvar, in northeastern Croatia. A systematic archaeological campaign started in 2012 and, by 2017, six excavation campaigns have been conducted. Thus far, part of the single - naved monastery church has been excavated, revealing numerous architectural elements, some small finds, and graves. During the 14th and 15th centuries the monastery was one of the most important Benedictine centres in Medieval Slavonia, but at the turn of the 15th century it was used as a fortification. It was thought that the monastery and its church were abandoned after the Ottoman conquest in the mid-16th century, but some of the excavated graves within the church date from the second half of the 16th through to the mid-17th century, indicating continued burial at the site. Anthropological analysis was carried out on 26 skeletons (19 males, 3 females and 4 subadults). Most of the pathological conditions (indicators of subadult stress, evidence of hard physical labour, and dental pathologies) suggest poor living conditions and a low standard of health. Many antemortem and perimortem injuries were recorded on the analysed material. In 19 out of 26 individuals (73.1%) 58 injuries and four possible injuries were identified. Some 14 out of 19 complete adult crania (73.7 %), and one out of three complete subadult crania (33.3%) exhibited trauma. Perimortem injuries were observed in four males and two females, while antemortem (healed) sharp force trauma was found in three males. The predominance of craniofacial injuries, as well as the presence of perimortem cranial trauma and healed sharp force lesions suggest that members of this community were subjected to high levels of intentional violence.

Benedictine monastery, Bijela, graves, perimortem trauma

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