Demre Aziz Nikolaos Kilisesi Geç Bizans ve Yakınçağ İnsanlarının Yaşam Biçimleri

Lifestyles of the Late Byzantine and Modern Period Human Skeletons Uncovered at the Church of St. Nicholas in Demre

Human skeletal remains dated to the Late Byzantine and Modern periods and uncovered at the Church of St. Nicholas in Demre, an important site for the Christians, were studied in order to identify their lifestyles and socio-economic structures of their groups. Furthermore, an attempt was made to analyse the evolution of these structures. Within the frame of this study, a total of 81 human skeletons – 28 from the Late Byzantine graves and 53 from the Modern period graves – have been studied. The demographic structures of the groups were identified based on the sex and average age of death while their health structures were explored for injuries, anaemia, infections and joint diseases. The average age of death for the Late Byzantine group was calculated as 38.77 years. Comparisons with contemporaneous groups from İznik, Topaklı, Boğazköy, Eski Cezaevi, Değirmentepe and Karagündüz have shown that the Demre group has a higher average age of death. Based on the correlation between groups with high average age of death and their socio-economic structures, the Late Byzantine group from Demre St. Nicholas Church has been identified as having had a socio-economic structure higher than those of the contemporaneous societies. This was further supported by another demographic factor: the low frequency of infantile and children’s death rate (10.7%). The low frequency of infections and anaemia, which is among the factors that affect the long life span of a group, was related with their better living conditions and better adaptation to their environment in comparison with the contemporaneous groups from Anatolia. It was concluded that these individuals were those who made donations to the church and thus the privilege of interment at the monastery was awarded to them and their family members. The data regarding the population and health structure of the group as well as their site of burial indicated that these were people with a high socio-economic status, but the presence of trauma and joint diseases revealed that their lifestyles depended upon physical activities. The group dated to the Modern period has an average age of death at 44.07 years and an infantile and children’s death rate of 17%. This group, too, has distinguished itself from its contemporaneous groups in Anatolia. As was in the Late Byzantine period, the demographic structure and low disease frequency indicated that this group too had a high socio-economic level. The traumas and joint diseases – important sources of data for identifying the lifestyles – have shown that the groups from the Late Byzantine period and the Modern period had similar lifestyles. In addition, decrease in the frequency of infec tions and anaemia pointed to improvement of hygiene, which has been attested to have been effective in increasing the life span of especially the women in the Modern period. When the data obtained from the demographic structure and disease frequency were considered together with the silver and gold-embellished silver belts left with them as burial gifts along with imported ceramics from England and Belgium, it was concluded that the Modern period group had a high socio-economic structure. Based on the anthropological and archaeological finds, it was concluded that the lifestyles of the Late Byzantine and Modern period groups did not differ from each other considerably but the hygienic conditions improved for the better in the Modern period.

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ISSN: 1301-2746
Yayın Aralığı: Yıllık
Başlangıç: 1996
Yayıncı: Koç Üniversitesi AKMED (Suna & İnan Kıraç Akdeniz Medeniyetleri Araştırma Merkezi)

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