Despre un posibil ritual funerar la populațiile medievale din Muntenia prin prisma a doi indivizi descoperiți în cimitirul bisericii „Sf. Vineri” de la Curtea Domnească din Târgoviște
On a possible funerary ritual of Medieval populations in Wallachia as indicated by two individuals buried in the cemetery of the Sfânta Vineri church from the Royal Court of Târgoviște

Summary/Abstract: Recent archaeological excavations carried out in the area of the medieval cemetery of the “Sfânta Vineri” Church (Târgoviște, Princely Court) brought to light two individuals, oriented west–east and laid on their backs, who present a distinctive funerary inventory. The anthropological analysis revealed the presence of a mature adult female of above average height (M.7) and a child at the borderline between early and middle childhood (M.45). Both individuals display a series of skeletal particularities, especially pathological changes. Among these, the cranial morphologies (caries sicca) and postcranial lesions (lytic, hypertrophic, sclerotic) of the adult individual drew our attention, leading us to believe that it is very likely that this person suffered from venereal syphilis. Moreover, it is possible that the infection with bacteria of the Treponema genus caused the biparietal osteodystrophy also observed on the skull of this individual. Although not directly related, this condition is sometimes associated with syphilis. In the case of the child, a number of pathological changes were observed on the skull (cribra orbitalia, serpens endocrania symmetrica) and vertebral column (hypervascularisation and periosteal reaction on the thoraco lumbar vertebral bodies), suggesting that the individual most likely suffered from tuberculosis. If the proposed diagnoses are correct (in the absence of archaeogenetic, elemental, isotopic, or imaging studies), it is possible that these pathological conditions represented the cause of death for the two individuals.

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