TRAUMAS OF VILNIUS ADULT MALES AND FEMALES IN THE 16 CENTURIES: IMPLICATIONS ON GENDER AND LIFE STYLE

Papers on Anthropology XIX, 2010, pp. 110–129

TRAUMAS OF VILNIUS ADULT MALES AND FEMALES IN THE 16TH–17TH CENTURIES:

IMPLICATIONS ON GENDER AND LIFE STYLE

Šarūnas Jatautis1, Ieva Mitokaitė1, Rimantas Jankauskas2 1 Department of Archaeology, Faculty of History, Vilnius University

2 Department of Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the trauma prevalence of Vilnius adult males and females in the 16th–17th centuries from skeletal data. Material and methods: 393 adult skeletons (228 males and 165 females) aged from 17 to 50+ years were analyzed in this study. Materials were pooled into groups according to confession (Orthodox or Catholic) and social status (higher or lower, regular burials or supposedly epidemic victims). Results and conclusions: In general, healed trauma incidence increases with age – a cummulative effect of life history events. Male’s lifestyle was more physically traumatic. By anatomical location, males had a much higher prevalence of injuries to the head, ribs and hand bones compared with females. The highest incidence of traumatic events was recorded for the individuals from orthodox cemeteries, while it was the lowest, poorest city dwellers’ sample. Lesion prevalence for different age at death groups was difficult to relate with lifestyle’s peculiarities. Key words: paleopathology, trauma, gender, Vilnius.

INTRODUCTION Humans are living psycho-physiological creatures, therefore psychical and physical (biological) health status is a measure indicating the quality of life or well-being. Unfortunately, attempts to evaluate past peoples’ psychical health status is only speculative; however, the human skeletons are the most direct evidences of human biological health [17].

Traumas of Vilnius adult males and females in the 16th–17th centuries... 111

Having in mind that biological human’s health state is vitally influenced by sociocultural agents and vice versa, osteological data is like a mirror reflecting the extremely important information concerning human adaptation to particular environment.

Physical traumas constitute one of the most common pathologies found in skeletons [30; 31]. These studies are important and provide useful information because: a) most of all the traumas is a result of adverse sudden human relationship with sociocultural or natural environment, and specific injuries are a certain reflection of this inter-action; b) people with serious physiological injuries, at least for some time we cannot fully accomplish some of their tasks to society and for themselves; c) people with serious injuries need other people’s attendance, and nursing could be interpreted as society’s support and attention to patients; d) possible causal relations with other diseases (for instance, metabolic complaints such as osteoporosis, vitamin D deficiency and others) [4].

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) (the Eastern and Central European state from the 13th century until 1795) was a country of remarkable cultural diversity, established on the Latin and the Byzantine civilizations boundary. Vilnius, the capital, was full of events that had a strong influence on the health status of the inhabitants in the 16th and 17th centuries. They experienced permanent and cruel conflicts with the Russian and Swedish armies (“the Deluge”), periodic infectious diseases and famine outbreaks, fluctuations in population size, social differen-tiation, shift in relationships with rural populations, social structure developments, and migrations. Those centuries are completely different in the history of this town. The 16th century was a blossom time for Vilnius: the town underwent a period of expansion; it was the main transitional town between Russia and the western world; many nations lived together in one place; the first University was established and many other aspects demonstrate that Vilnius was a prosperous town. However, from the 17th century, particularly from “the Deluge”, welfare of Vilnius began to decline. Combinations of famines, plagues and wars hit very heavily the Vilnius dwellers with particularly terrible social, biological and historical consequences [13]. The population size in the city for mentioned periods varies according to different studies. The estimated values vary from 14 to 120 thousand of people in the 16th century, with “standard” values being about 20 to 30 thousand. Half of the people died or escaped during “the Deluge” in the middle of 17th century [13; 14; 15; 23].

112 Š. Jatautis, I. Mitokaitė, R. Jankauskas

Vilnius differed from other big medieval towns because of one significant aspect: the famous medieval proverb that “the air of the town makes people free” practically was not valid here. Townspeople never had a real independence from the local nobility that is witnessed in many historical records by many complaints concerning lawlessness in the 16th–17th centuries [1]. Vilnius was multinational and, definitely, socially hierarchical city. Furthermore, males were socially in a higher position than females in the society: women were responsible only for the home space [24]. Vilnius was a messy town and the local authorities did not seek to change the situation very much. Simple townspeople lived in a crowded environment, all the dirt had been thrown away directly to the streets or drained to the waters pools or rivers. Infectious epidemic diseases were a very common phenomenon in the dwellers’ daily life, repetitious by periods of seven or eight years with the enormous influence to many dimensions of social life [2]. In addition to this, Vilnius was a multinational transitional town, including that Russian and Swedish armies occupied it several times. The most common and probably most effective way to escape from these disasters was just to run away from the focal outbreak locations for that time. Nevertheless, according to the historical records, higher social status people had more possibilities to avoid and survive outbreaks of these disasters. Conversely, the underclass usually stayed in the city during these periods with a very high risk to die [13; 26].

Besides of infectious epidemic diseases and famines, the second biggest health problem for local dwellers had been various types of traumas. Males were fond of solving their problems in fights or inter-personal conflicts: there are plenty of historical complaints concerning physical abuse against females, lower social status people, work conflicts, etc. Other possible causes of multiple traumas were un-intentional incidents, such as road traffic accidents and so on. A historical record tells the story where an old lady complains about the carrier who overrides her daughter, who now has a serious medical treatment [1]. Undoubtedly, intensive and very cruel wars of the 17th century had traumatized or killed many Vilnius dwellers. In addition, fires were a huge problem for the dwellers living in the wooden town: there are plenty of historical records telling about devastating fire accidents [1; 13; 22].

The Barbers’ guild was the prime agent responsible for most of the injured dwellers care. Their medical care was very diverse, for instance, they restituted dislocations, extracted teeth, attended fractured bones,


etc. They worked as forensic medicine agents, too [21]. On the other hand, we can only suppose about the quality of medical treatment for simple dwellers. Only high social status people could afford the professional services of doctors.

Summarizing the available data of historical records, it is expected that Vilnius had to be the favorable place to spread various infectious diseases in the 16th–17th centuries. It is expected that the males’ way of life should have been more traumatic than the females’. Little can be said about the quality of medical treatment.

This paper is an attempt to perform the detailed analysis of traumatism in Vilnius during those two centuries.

MATERIAL AND METHODS 393 adult skeletons (228 males and 165 females) aged from 17 to 50+ were analyzed in this study. The remains are from eight sites in Vilnius, Lithuania, all dated the 16th and 17th centuries. In this study, data was being included only from the dated, registered and undisturbed graves with more or less complete skeleton preservation. All the data was recorded according to our standard protocols. Sex, age and pathologies were determined using conventional morphological methods [3; 9; 10; 19; 27]. Human remains were grouped by age, sex, site and sites clusters. In this study, we consider as a trauma (including post-traumatic complications) those signs: fractures, dislocations, compressions, skull vault depressions and signs of stabs, the Schmorl’s nodes and avascular necrosis. The term multiple trauma is used for three or more traumatized bones per person.

Disorder prevalence was estimated by the formula: n / N * 100, where n – the affected particular bone or a person with a disorder, N – all the particular preserved bones or all the persons. To check the independency between comparable variables, we used chi square (X2) for 2*2 tables, the Fisher’s exact test for less than five expected cases, the non-parametric Kruskall Wallis test to compare 3 or more groups and the Pearson’s correlation for the degree determination to which the variables are related [6; 7]. The values with p-value below 0.05 will be considered as significant, in addition, p-values above 0.05 and below 0.1 will be discussed and be considered as marginally significant. The statistical comparison by age is made only for younger (<40 years) and


older (>40 years) age at death groups. SPSS 9.0 software was used for statistical elaboration. Description of Sites

The samples, analyzed in this study, were from eight sites. According to archaeological and historical records, we grouped all the cemeteries into four clusters: orthodox cemeteries, the remains buried inside churches, epidemic diseases victims and poor catholic dwellers’ cemeteries (Min-daugo/Kauno str. site).

Orthodox cemeteries (151 individuals). While discussing ortho-doxies, it is important to note Orthodox church and monastery of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius (HSCM). Subačiaus str. parish cemetery (105 individuals) belonged to HSCM and operated between the beginning of 17th century the 3rd–4th decades of the 17th century. Archaeological investigations revealed that simultaneously clustered individuals were buried in the cemetery. However, few places show that there were signs of mass graves [29]. The Polocko str. cemetery (21 individuals) also belongs to HSCM. Burials were dated to the 16th century. [11]. The Bokšto str. (25 individuals) cemeteries’ territory belonged to the Vilnius area better known as the “Russian city”. Therefore, it is expected that this site also belonged to the Orthodox church [25].

Epidemic diseases victims’ cemeteries (154 individuals). The mass graves, where remains were buried more or less on the same level, were found in the Aguonų str. (127) and the Čiurlionio str. (27) cemeteries. Archaeologists suggest that the victims of plague or other epidemic diseases were buried in both of these sites. Aguonų str. sample is dated to the 15th–16th centuries. [32], Čiurlionio – to the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century. [5].

Remains from Roman Catholic churches (45 individuals). We analyzed the remains found in two churches: St. Francis and Bernardine (19) and Franciscan (26) churches. According to archeological data, the remains from both churches are dated to the 16th–17th centuries. [8; 28]. Most likely, they had a high social status by social dependency (monks or/and laymen) in local society.

Poor catholic dwellers’ cemetery (Mindaugo/Kauno str. sample) (45 individuals). The archaeological excavations of this site were finished at the end of 2009. Therefore, all the data is fragmentary and suppositional by now. According to archaeological findings, people could be buried in cemeteries probably from the first half of the 17th century until the


beginning of the 18th century. However, historical records mention that St. Stephen Church (very close to this site) was built for the victims of plague near active poor dwellers’ cemeteries in 1600. Therefore, it is possible that exactly these cemeteries were mentioned (information from J. Ramanauskienė). RESULTS Almost 30% of all the individuals had at least one bone trauma in their lives; trauma prevalence had a very strong positive correlation with the age at death for both sexes (Pearson’s r=0.964, p=0.008); 18.97% of individuals had multiple fractures. Both sex older individuals had a significantly higher frequency of total traumas than the same sex younger individuals (Table 1). Older males had a higher multiple trauma prevalence than the younger ones. Table 1. General incidence of traumas between age-at-death groups

Age at death n / N % 17–20 5/26 19.23 20–30 19/98 19.39 30–40 27/101 26.73 40–50 39/86 45.35 50+ 23/46 50.00 <40 49/242 20.25 >40 66/141 46.81 Total 116/393 29.52

Males of both age groups obviously had significantly higher prevalence of at least one trauma than corresponding age females. In addition, males had experienced more multiple traumas in their lives than females, albeit only at p<0.1 level (Table 2).

Half of older males and one third of older females had at least one trauma in their lives. However, the highest change in trauma prevalence was between 20–30 and 30–40 years age-at-death for males and between 30–40 and 40–50 years group for females, when the cases of prevalence increased about twofold.


Table 2. Statistical comparisons of all and multiple trauma prevalence by sex and age-at-death groups (M – males, F – females)

Age and sex groups At least one

trauma Multiple traumas

M vs. F, pooled 0.000 0.0601

M vs. F (<40 years) 0.023 0.687* M vs. F (>40 years) 0.021 0.170 M (<40 years) vs. M (>40 years) 0.000 0.003 F (<40 years) vs. F (>40 years) 0.005 0.155* M+F (<40 years) vs. M+F (>40 years) 0.000 0.000

Values in bold are significant at p<0.05 level (X2 p-values). 1 – value is significant at p<0.1 level. * – Fisher’s exact test. Trauma localization

Skull traumas 23 of 327 skulls (7.03%) had signs of injuries (Table 3). Older people were affected significantly more often than the young ones. With respect to injuries’ localization, the list of affected bones is presented in Table 4. There were no significant statistical differences between the injuries to the cranial vault and the facial part (X2 = 0.308; p = 0.579). Table 3. Distribution of head trauma by age at death

Age at death n / N % 17–20 0/21 0.00 20–30 2/81 2.47 30–40 5/93 5.38 40–50 12/79 15.19 50+ 4/43 9.30 <40 7/199 3.52 >40 16/125 12.80 Total 23/327 7.03

In 15 of 23 cases, the type of cranial injuries was determined: two were the wounds in the facial part (one depression and one stab) and others were the traumas in the vault. Depression fractures were recorded in 8 cases, slashed – 7 cases and stabbed injuries – 2 cases. Two individuals had two types of cranial injury, i.e. depressions and slash wounds to the skull vault. Other two individuals had both the affected skull vault and


the facial part – parietal with the left maxilla, frontal and nasal bones (the depression and slash wound of the vault and the injury of nasals). Post-traumatic complications, for instance, infections, had not been found. However, two individuals with cranial injuries to the vault (occipital and parietal bones) did not show healing signs. Table 4. Distribution of injuries to different bones in the skull

Bone Males,

n/N Females,

n/N Pooledl,

n/N Males,

% Females,

% Total,

% Ocipital 2/158 0/119 2/277 1.27 0.00 0.72 Parietals 7/169 1/128 8/297 4.14 0.78 2.69 Frontal 6/163 0/124 6/287 3.68 0.00 2.09 Nasal 8/122 1/88 9/310 6.56 1.14 2.90 Maxilla 2/143 1/115 3/258 1.40 0.87 1.16

More than half of the individuals with cranial injuries had postcranial traumas (13 of 23 cases, 56.52%). The most commonly affected bones were ribs (8 individuals – 39.13%) and ulna (4 – 21.74%). Besides, more than one third of individuals with cranial injuries had signs of multiple traumas (7 – 34.78%).

21 male and 2 female skeletons show signs of skull injuries. This difference was statistically significant: males in all the age groups had a significantly higher number of skull injuries than females. Both older females and males had a higher prevalence of trauma (Table 5). The highest prevalence was in the 40–50 years group for both sexes (10/48, 20.83% for males and 2/31, 6.45% for females). Table 5. Statistical comparisons of skull trauma prevalence by sex and age-at-death groups (M – males, F – females)

Age and sex groups X2 df p M vs. F, pooled 12.341 1 0.000 M vs. F (<40 years) 0.014* M vs. F (>40 years) 4.398 1 0.036 M (<40 years) vs. M (>40 years) 4.970 1 0.026 F (<40 years) vs. F (>40 years) 0.099*1

M+F (<40 years) vs. M+F (>40 years) 10.031 1 0.002

Values in bold are significant at p<0.05 level; 1 – values are significant at p<0.1 level; * – Fisher’s exact test


Though only two females were affected, the character of injuries is conspicuous. The first one, a 40–45 years old female had an unhealed injury to the right parietal and this is the only trauma sign in all her skeleton. Possibly, that injury was the main cause of her death. The second female of the same age had a healed trauma of the nasals and the right maxilla together with fractures of the left forearm, the right foot and both ribs. Postcranial traumas Older individuals had many more signs of trauma than the younger ones. Males were affected by postcranial trauma significantly more often than females (Table 6). Table 6. Statistical comparisons of postcranial trauma prevalence by sex and age-at-death groups (M – males, F – females)

Age and sex groups X2 df p M vs. F, pooled 9.134 1 0.003 M vs. F (<40 years) 2.491 1 0.114 M vs. F (>40 years) 3.803 1 0.051 M (<40 years) vs. M (>40 years) 17.115 1 0.000 F (<40 years) vs. F (>40 years) 6.469 1 0.011 M+F (<40 years) vs. M+F (>40 years) 26.752 1 0.000

Values in bold are significant at p<0.05 level. 1 – value is significant at p<0.1 level.

The most traumatized bones were ribs, vertebrae and ulnas (Table 7). Fractures of ribs and ulnas were more frequent in the older than the younger individuals irrespective of sex (for females ulna fractures differ only marginally). Males obviously had many more ribs traumas than females. Older males had marginally noticeable hand bones fractures than younger individuals. There were significant discrepancies with the vertebrae trauma. First of all, the most vulnerable vertebra was thoracic for both sexes. Secondly, while females had only thoracic vertebrae fractures, males additionally had lumbar traumas. The male skeletons had marginally a statistically higher prevalence of the Schmorl’s nodes than females (p=0.084, the Fisher’s exact test). However, there was no significant difference between the younger and the older individuals (p>0.1). The right fibula was affected significantly more than the left.


Although not statistically significant, but there were few noticeable differences. Females had more fractures of the left ulna than the right (5/131, 3.82% and 1/134, 0.75%, respectively). Clavicle fractures were more common in males than females (7/176, 3.98% and 1/136, 0.74%, respectively). Older males had more hand bone fractures than older females (11/167, 6.59% and 4/122, 3.28%, respectively).

Humerus, tibia and coxal bone fractures were recorded for six individuals. All of these injuries had no statistically significant differences at p=0.1 level with respect to age, sex or site. Fractures of the humerus were seen in 3 individuals (2 males and 1 female). All the individuals were aged 30 and above. Two individuals had injuries of the pelvic bones: a 20–25-year-old female had fractures of both inferior pubis ramus and had a thoracic vertebra fracture; another 30–35-year-old female had a healed impression injury on the right os coxae. Only one 40–50-year-old female had tibia affected by fracture. She suffered from the trauma to the right distal end of the tibia and fibula, the left humerus surgical neck fracture and ulna diaphysis fractures. Probably, she had experienced some sudden dangerous accident that caused such an extreme multiple postcranial bone fractures.

Femur fractures are very dangerous or even life threatening, especially for old persons; 4 of 8 traumas were recorded in the proximal part of femur, others in diaphysis; 4 individuals with femur fractures were 20–30 years old (3 males and 1 female), 4–50+ years old (2 males and 2 females, two cases were injuries to femur diaphysis and one to proximal end). It is important to note that six of eight fibula fractures were recorded in the distal part. All the unfortunates have been under 30 years of age (5 males and 3 females). In addition, 6 of 8 individuals with fibula fractures had 3 or more fractures in their lives. All the fractures of ulna, radius and clavicle were in diaphysis.

Tab

le 7

. Dis

trib

utio

n an

d st

atis

tica

l com

pari

son

of p

ostc

rani

al f

ract

ures

Com

para

ble

vari

able

s C

lavi

cle

Rad

ius

Uln

a H

and

bone

s F

emur

F

ibul

a F

eet

bone

s R

ibs

Ver

tebr

ae

Tot

al p

reva

lenc

e 8/

312

(2.5

6%)

13/3

22

(4.0

4%)

20/3

28

(6.1

0%)

15/2

89

(5.1

9%)

8/30

4 (2

.63%

)8/

264

(3.0

3%)

5/24

5 (2

.04%

) 42

/265

(1

5.85

%)

24/3

20

(7.5

0%)

Unh

eale

d

1 0

0 0

1 0

0 1

0

Pos

t tra

umat

ic c

ompl

icat

ions

1

0 0

1 2

0 2

1 0

Bila

tera

l tra

uma

per

pers

on

1 1

1 0

0 0

0 10

–

Indi

vidu

als

with

mul

t. tr

aum

a 2

4 10

4

1 6

2 15

3

M v

s. F

, poo

led

0.14

4*

0.78

8 0.

206

0.21

1 1.

000*

1.

000*

0.

651*

0.

014

0.17

9 M

vs.

F (

<40

yea

rs)

0.24

8*

0.42

2*

0.60

5*

1.00

0*

0.62

6*

1.00

0*

0.50

1*

0.16

4 0.

330

M v

s. F

(>

40 y

ears

) 0.

648*

1.

000*

0.

194

0.15

0*

1.00

0*

1.00

0*

1.00

0*

0.12

0 0.

709*

M

(<

40 y

ears

) vs

. M

(>40

yea

rs)

0.45

5*

0.13

7*

0.00

0 0.

058*

1 1.

000*

0.

365*

0.

648*

0.

000

0.73

8 F

(<

40 y

ears

) vs

. F

(>40

yea

rs)

0.33

1*

1.00

0*

0.08

9*1

1.00

0*

0.65

1*

1.00

0*

0.27

8*

0.00

7*

1.00

0*

M+

F (

<40

yea

rs)

vs. M

+F

(>

40 y

ears

) 0.

267*

0.

229

0.00

0 0.

0941

0.46

7*

0.44

9*

0.34

5*

0.00

0 0.

725

Rig

ht v

s. L

eft

(C. v

s. T

. vs.

L.)

0.

761*

0.

554

0.23

8 0.

793

1.00

0*

0.03

7*

0.37

2*

0.97

6 0.

000*

* M

ales

(R

. vs.

L.)

(C

. vs.

T. v

s. L

.)

0.72

3*

0.71

5*

0.73

8 0.

783

0.37

2*

0.20

9*

0.62

3*

0.76

9 0.

005*

* F

emal

es (

R. v

s. L

.)

(C. v

s. T

. vs.

L.)

1.

000*

1.

000*

0.

117*

0.

622*

0.

247*

0.

246*

0.

492*

0.

553

0.00

1**

Val

ues

in b

old

are

sign

ific

ant a

t p<

0.05

val

ues

(X2 p

-val

ues,

**

– K

rusk

all-

Wal

lis

test

p-v

alue

s)

1 –

valu

es a

re s

igni

fica

nt a

t p<

0.1

valu

es

* –

Fish

er’s

exa

ct te

st p

-val

ues


Complications There were 5 individuals with post traumatic complications. One indi-vidual had healed fingers’ fractures and osteoarthritis as a complication. Two of five with feet bone injuries had post traumatic complications: aseptic necrosis and inflammation. An individual with a healed injury of stabbing to costae had huge exostosis. One individual had had neoarthrosis of both claviculas. One male (25–30 years old) had post traumatic aseptic necrosis of femoral head. A male (>50 years old) had a healed greenstick fracture and as a consequence his right femur was shortened. Dislocations Three male and none of female skeletons had signs of shoulder dislocation. All the 3 male skeletons with shoulder dislocation had injuries to the head, too (two of them to the nasalia bone). Two of them had multiple traumas. None of them had unhealed traumas. Unhealed cases Five (2 males and 3 females) individuals had fractures without healing signs. One individual had a fracture with incomplete healing. Extreme cases: four or more fractured bones per skeleton Seven skeletons had four or more fracture signs: 5 males and 3 females. 6 individuals were under 40 years old. All the 7 had ulna fractures; in addition, 5 individuals had rib fractures (Table 8). All of the fractured bones were healed. Comparison between sites With respect to site, there were statistically significant differences at p<0.05 level between the total prevalence of trauma for both sexes and the total sample; injuries to the head for males and the total sample; the postcranial trauma for both sexes and the total sample. Still, there were no significant differences between different sites and individuals with multiple traumas. The highest total prevalence of trauma was apparently in the Subačiaus str. sample population and the lowest in the Mindaug/ Kauno str. sample. The individuals (hold only for males) buried inside the Bernadine church demonstrably had the highest rate of injuries to the head while the lowest rates were recorded for the Aguonų, Mindaugo/ Kauno and the Franciscan samples.

Tab

le 8

. Ind

ivid

uals

with

4 to

8 tr

aum

as p

er p

erso

n

Site

P

oloc

ko s

tr.

Sub

ačia

us

str.

S

ubač

iaus

st

r.

Sub

ačia

us

str.

F

ranc

isca

n ch

urch

A

guonų

str.

Min

daug

o/

Kau

no s

tr.

Sex

Mal

e F

emal

e M

ale

Mal

e F

emal

e M

ale

Fem

ale

Age

50

+

40–4

5 40

–45

50–5

5 40

–45

30–3

5 35

–40

Num

ber

of fr

actu

res

7 4

5 5

8 7

4 1

Nas

als

L. h

umer

us

R. p

arie

tal

Nas

als

R. m

axil

la

L. c

lavi

cle

L. u

lna

2 R

. cla

vicl

e L

. uln

a L

. par

ieta

l L

. rad

ius

L. m

axill

a R

. uln

a L

. rad

ius

3 R

. uln

a R

. tib

ia

L. m

andi

ble

L. u

lna

Nas

als

L. u

lna

R. f

ibul

a 4

R. h

and

R. f

ibul

a L

. uln

a R

. rib

L

. uln

a L

. rad

ius

Th

vert

ebra

5

R. r

ib

– L

. rib

L

. rib

L

. rad

ius

L. h

and

– 6

L. r

ib

– –

– R

. rib

L

. fib

ula

–

7 R

. sho

ulde

r di

sclo

catio

n –

– –

L. r

ib

R. r

ib

– 8

– –

– –

R. f

oot

– –


The individuals from the Bernardine Church were exceptional. All the individuals with injuries to the head were 45 years old and above at the death time. One individual had one depression and two slashed fractures on the right forehead and nasalia. The second individual had a nasalia fracture and shoulder dislocation. The third was with one depression and slashed fractures on the left parietale. The last had slashed fracture signs on the left parietale and frontale, also lower the third of femur diaphysis fracture. All the fractures were healed.

Postcranial traumas were most common for the remains buried in the Subačiaus str. population. Meanwhile, the Bernadine and the Mindaugo/ Kauno str. samples had the lowest rate of all traumas.

The Čiurlionio str. sample was particularly exceptional for a very high rate of traumatism for males (58.33% for total and postcranial trauma; 16.67% for multiple trauma and injuries). However, this could be accidental due to a small sample size (Table 9).

When different sites were grouped into four clusters, there were statistically significant differences between the general trauma prevalence for males and the pooled samples, injuries to the head for the pooled samples and the postcranial trauma for the pooled sample and for sepaprate sexes. The highest incidence of traumatic events was recorded for the individuals from the Orthodox cemeteries, while the lowest for the Mindaugo/Kauno str. sample. The highest prevalence of injuries to the head was recorded for the skeletons buried inside churches and Orthodox cemeteries, the lowest for other two clusters. Postcranial traumas were apparently the highest for the people buried in Orthodox cemeteries while the lowest for the Mindaugo/Kauno str. sample. The other two samples had central meanings (Tables 10, 11, 12).

Tab

le 9

. Dif

fere

nces

in to

tal t

raum

a, m

ulti

ple

trau

mas

, inj

urie

s to

hea

d an

d po

stcr

ania

l tra

uma

inci

denc

e by

dif

fere

nt s

ites

Site

T

otal

T

raum

aM

ultip

le

trau

mas

Inju

ries

to

hea

dP

ostc

rani

al

trau

ma

Tot

al

Tra

uma

(%)

Mul

tiple

tr

aum

as (

%)

Inju

ries

to

head

(%

) P

ostc

rani

al

trau

ma

(%)

Pol

ocko

str

. 5

3 2

4 23

.81

14.2

9 10

.00

19.0

5 S

ubač

iaus

str

. 54

7

10

49

51.4

3 6.

67

10.9

9 46

.67

Fra

ncis

can

chur

ch

8 3

1 8

29.6

3 11

.11

4.00

29

.63

Čiu

rlio

ni o

str

. 7

2 2

7 31

.82

9.09

9.

52

31.8

2 B

okšt

o st

r.

8 1

2 7

29.6

3 3.

70

7.69

25

.93

Agu

onų

str.

23

3

1 23

18

.11

2.36

1.

11

18.1

1 S

FB

4

1 4

2 21

.05

5.26

23

.53

10.5

3 M

inda

ugo/

Kau

no s

tr.

6 1

1 6

13.3

3 2.

22

2.70

13

.33


Table 10. Statistical comparison of total trauma distribution among the site clusters

Comparable variables

Orthodox (%)

Epidemic (%)

Church burials (%)

Mindaugo/ Kauno str. (%) P

Male 50.00 32.05 28.13 12.5 0.002 Female 9.57 5.13 9.38 4.17 0.623 Total 29.79 18.59 18.75 8.33 0.004

Values in bold are signifant at p<0.05 level (Kruskall Wallis test p-values) Table 11. Statistical comparison of injuries to the head abundance among the sites clusters


Orthodox (%)

Epidemic (%)

Inside church (%)

Mindaugas (%) p


Value in bold is statistically significant at p<0.05 level (Kruskall Wallis test p-values) Table 12. Statistical comparison of postcranial trauma by different sites clusters


Orthodox (%)

Epidemic (%)

Inside church (%)

Mindaugas (%) P


Values in bold are statistically significant at p<0.05 level (Kruskall Wallis test p-values) DISCUSSION

Significant differences between the sexes, age groups and different sites regarding the prevalence of traumas were found.

According to the data, we may suggest that life in Vilnius was indeed physically traumatizing in the 16th–17th centuries. Almost 30% of the


individuals had experienced at least one physical traumatic event in their lives. However, the male’s lifestyle was obviously much more physically dangerous for all the age groups. By anatomical location, males had a much higher prevalence of injuries to the head, ribs and hand bones compared with females. These injuries are very often considered as tightly connected with interpersonal conflicts [18]. If so, it also may indicate that males were more aggressive than females.

Concerning females’ traumas, there was one important difference. Though not statistically significant, females experienced the left ulna fractures more often than the right. How to explain “parry fracture”? Two most familiar answers are the defense against assaults and/or unintentional daily traumatic life events [12; 16; 18; 20]. The historical sources provide enough proof of women beating episodes [1]; therefore, there is a reason to suggest such an explanation for at least a part of the injured females.

Older females had a higher prevalence of trauma than the younger individuals. The same rule holds regarding multiple traumas. We may suggest two distinct explanations for these differences. First, to state that this discrepancy reflects a true situation. It makes sense, because senile bones are more fragile and susceptible to fractures. Moreover, usually younger individuals react faster to various disasters, such as army or other deliberate attacks, house fires. Thus, they had bigger possibilities to escape and survive. However, we have to admit that skeletons represent dead individuals, i.e. represent a cumulative life experience, including the health status. Therefore, it is very likely that those who died in the younger age did not have much time to undergo what older individuals experienced. This proposition could be justified by the fact that there is a very strong positive linear correlation between trauma prevalence and age at death.

Also, there were individuals with 4 to 8 fractured bones per person and, what is most surprising, all of them were healed (and without any serious infectious complications). It showed the ability of these individuals to survive extremely severe physical life events. A few aspects about the past Vilnius dwellers may be proposed. First of all, the medical situation was good enough to help people to recover fast. Secondly, it shows that unfortunates were important for someone to take care, offer them compassion and care. Still, there were five cases without healing signs. All those unfortunates had only one bone fracture that may suggest that the sudden severe episode of trauma was the cause of their death.


There were clear differences between the sites regarding the prevalence of trauma. Apparently, the lowest values were for the Mindaugo/Kauno str. sample. Having in mind that trauma had a positive correlation with age, the most likely explanation could be based on demographical data, i.e. most of the remains from this sample were under 40 years, and they simply did not have enough time to cummulate scars from previous traumas. However, the remains aged under 40 from other samples had many more signs of trauma. The alternative suggestion could be that the poorest inhabitants’ life (at least for those who were buried in this sample) could have been not only shorter but also less traumatic or they were lucky enough to live in the more peaceful period. Other samples (only the Aguonų str. sample had less than 20% of general trauma prevalence) confirm the assumption that life, particularly for males, was indeed traumatic.

The results concerning the injuries to the head emphasized two very noticeable differences: the lowest values were in the Mindaugo/Kauno str. and the Aguonų str. samples again, and exceptionally high rates in the SFB Church. We can explain low values for the Aguonų and the Mindaugo/Kauno samples by the above-mentioned considerations. The older males of a higher social status, buried inside the SFB Church, certainly had some interpersonal conflict evidences on their heads.

As expected, our results suggest that the adult male’s lifestyle in all the age groups had been much more physically traumatic than the females’. Likely, it was a reflection of the social environment in Vilnius in the 16th–17th centuries, i.e. females were less physically active and responsible only for home space activities. Nevertheless, the fact that most of the traumas (even multiple) healed indicates that society coped well enough with this problem. Higher trauma incidence for older individuals can be explained by two opposite facts: it reflects a real situation or cumulative effects during life.

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Address for correspondence: Rimantas Jankauskas Department of Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Vilnius, M.K.Čiurlionio 21, 03101, Vilnius, Lithuania e-mail: [email protected]

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TRAUMAS OF VILNIUS ADULT MALES AND FEMALES IN THE 16 CENTURIES: IMPLICATIONS ON GENDER AND LIFE STYLE

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