HEALTH AND LIFE CHARACTERISTICS OF KUCUK AYASOFYA POPULATION

Abstract

Skeletal remains are the conventional materials used in assessing the physical, genetic, and health characteristics of past cultures and to infer on their dietary history, lifestyle and demography. The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristic markers in the life of a Late Byzantine population who lived nearby the Sea of Marmara in Istanbul and to assess the nutrition and effects of urbanization in the area. Remains are from the five graves uncovered 1,5 m under the floor of the Kucuk Ayasofya Mosque. In the study, age at death, sex, dental and skeleton population specific diseases were examined. The population consists of 20 individuals; 5 subadults, 9 adults and 6 unaged. There were a few cases of disease including periostitis, spondylolisthesis, spina bifida and a rare case of pink teeth of P2. There was a well developed arthritis in a male knee joint and vertebral osteophytes in some adults. The health is determined from teeth, trauma and infectious diseases of the skeletal remains. It is thought that there were various factors related to increased urbanization and intense labor causing nutritional stress and trauma.