Demographic trends and biological status of historic populations from Central Poland

The Ostrów Lednicki microregion

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8321908
AutoresAlicja Budnik (0000-0002-9916-9775, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, autor correspondente), Grażyna Liczbińska (0000-0002-0922-4612, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań), Izabela Gumna (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań)
Ano2004
Volume125
Fascículo4
Páginas369-381
Data de publicação2004-12-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.10272
PMID15386259
OpenAlexW2010515184
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas16
Referências citadas34

The microregion of Ostrów Lednicki in the province of Wielkopolska was the center of the formation of the Polish State in Early Middle Ages. The analysis of skeletal remains and parish records from the region documented the biological status of inhabitants and its changes over a millennium. The study material comprised 424 human skeletons from an Early Medieval burial ground on Lake Lednica, records of 2,704 deaths from the registers of the Roman Catholic parish of Dziekanowice, made between 1818–1903, data on the deaths of 929,192 inhabitants of rural areas all over the province Wielkopolska obtained from Prussian statistical materials for the years 1865–1900, and comparative data from the literature. Assuming both a stationary population model and a stable population model with nonzero natural increase, parameters of life tables and measures of opportunity for natural selection (Crow's index I m , potential gross reproductive rate R pot , and the biological state index I bs ) were calculated for the Early Middle Ages and for the two periods of the 19th century which were characterized by different laws of land ownership and thus different rural economies. In the first period, peasants were tenants, whereas in the second, they were given freehold of the land they cultivated. Causes of death were also analyzed. A distinct increase in longevity from the early Middle Ages to the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century was found. This was related to a higher level of demographic development in the parish of Dziekanowice during the 19th century, which was achieved earlier than in other areas of Poland. This was confirmed by genetic measures: coefficients of exogamy and coefficients of kinship. The reasons were related to the historical prominence of this region and to its proximity to the first two capitals of the Polish state, Gniezno and Poznań. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc

Archaeology · Geography · Forensic and Genetic Research · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Health and Conflict Studies