Life in Suleiman’s Army: Preliminary Investigations of Health in an Ottoman Cemetery Site
Author(s): Kathryn Allen
Year: 2016
Summary
In recent years, analyses of human skeletal remains have significantly contributed to our understanding of the past. A cemetery collection of 160 skeletons from the 16th and 17th centuries excavated from the city center of Timişoara, Romania have provided a rare opportunity to study a brief, tumultuous time when the Ottoman Empire extended into Central Europe. The inhumations, representative of the Ottoman population that relocated into the fortified city center after Turkish expansion, provide insight into the composition and health of this military group. Preliminary research on more complete inhumations was conducted in the spring of 2015. Biological profiles indicate a larger percentage of males than females, unsurprising results for a garrison town. Preliminary pathological investigations highlight a wide range of pathological insults on the skeletal remains relating to trauma and disease, as well as non-specific indicators of stress. Future research will solidify conclusions but initial results indicate a stressful time for those responsible for the day-to-day operations of the empire’s borderlands. While it is rarely denied that colonization results in deleterious health effects for conquered populations, this study may indicate biological impacts on the conquerors as well.
Cite this Record
Life in Suleiman’s Army: Preliminary Investigations of Health in an Ottoman Cemetery Site. Kathryn Allen. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida. 2016 ( tDAR id: 404623) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8X350BR
This Resource is Part of the Following Collections
Keywords
Material
Human Remains
Investigation Types
Bioarchaeological Research
General
bioarchaeology
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Eastern Europe
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Ottoman
Geographic Keywords
Europe
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Romania
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Southeastern Europe
Temporal Keywords
Early Modern Period
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Ottoman Empire
Spatial Coverage
min long: -11.074; min lat: 37.44 ; max long: 50.081; max lat: 70.823 ;
File Information
Name | Size | Creation Date | Date Uploaded | Access | |
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KG-Allen-SAA-2016-Poster.pdf | 1,016.35kb | Jun 22, 2016 8:28:40 AM | Public |