Past inhabitants of Garbary – a biocultural perspective

Abstract

The present work analyses the bone material unearthed at the graveyard of St Peter the Little’s Church in Garbary. The study is based on research from the years 1978 and 2012. A total of 111 skeletons were analysed, all of them of medium condition, dating back to the modern period. The material’s diversity level was verified by biological distance assessment. Ward’s method was used for selected measurement features of the neurocranium and the facial skeleton. Sex and age were established simultaneously by means of methods commonly applied in anthropology. The assessment was based on the morphology of the skull and pelvic bones as well as the deciduous and permanent teeth eruption sequence. Cranial measurements and indices were subjected to analysis. Osteometric data provided the basis for an analysis of long bone symmetry, limb length and proportions and bone massiveness indices. A multi-planar reconstruction of individuals’ stature was performed by means of regression formulas developed by various authors. Sexual dimorphism index served indirectly as a measurement of the living conditions of individuals in the population, whereas an analysis of muscular and skeletal stress markers on bones allowed us to evaluate build types. Calculated life expectancy table parameters were used to recreate e.g. individuals’ lifespans and life expectancy structure (by age at death) characteristic of historical populations of Krakow.