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VIII/1/2017
InterdIscIplInarIa archaeologIca
natural scIences In archaeology
homepage: http://www.iansa.eu
People “on the Margin”: A Medieval Cemetery in Český Brod – Malechov
(Central Bohemia)
Jan Frolík
a*
, Petra Stránská
a
, Jitka Votrubová
b
, Barbora Emmerová
b,d
, Daniel Vaněk
b,c
a
Institute of Archaeology Prague, CAS, Letenská 4, 118 01, Prague 1, Czech Republic
b
Forensic DNA Service, Bulovka 1606/1, 180 81 Prague 8, Czech Republic
c
Charles University in Prague, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, V Úvalu 84, 150 06 Prague 5, Czech Republic
d
Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Albertov 6, 128 43 Prague 2, Czech Republic
1. Introduction
The vast majority of the population buried during the
High Middle Ages in accordance with church rules in
cemeteries or at the parish cemetery church (Unger 2000).
One exception is the Jewish community with its separate
burial grounds (Cymbalak, Staňková 2014). Graves in the
areas of execution are another specifc case (Sokol 2003).
There are also some isolated graves, or numerically small
groups, outside these areas, where usually the interpretation
is lacking. Such an isolated group of graves was discovered
during a systematic reconstruction of the underground
sewerage and other infrastructure in some streets and
squares of Český Brod (District of Kolín, Central Bohemia),
reconstruction work which has been ongoing since the
1990s. In 2006–2007, sewerage work excavations were
conducted in Prokopa Velikého Street, which forms the axis
of Kouřimské předměstí (Kouřim Suburb). The street starts
at Kouřimská brána (Kouřim Gate), crosses the Šembera
stream and continues towards the town of Kolín (historically
towards the town of Kouřim). Today, this part of Český Brod
bears the name Malechov (Figure 1).
Features from the 13
th
to 19
th
centuries were discovered
in the course of the sewerage renovation work. A larger,
more-continuous area was then excavated just in front of
house No. 407. The hole dug for the sewage connection to
this house contained three disturbed skeleton graves with
fragments of medieval pottery in its backfll. Since the graves
were situated at a level at which they were endangered by the
new roadway, it was decided to make an extensive rescue
excavation. A trench pit of 6.2×3.2 m was outlined at both
sides of the sewage connection (Figure 2). This part of the
excavation took part in June 2007 (Frolík 2007).
The clearly defned group of graves in the vicinity of
the main road leading into the city raised the question of
interpretation. Such an interpretation was made possible on
the basis of the most accurate dating by archaeology and by
the use of methods of the natural sciences (anthropology,
Volume VIII ● Issue 1/2017 ● Pages 59–75
*Corresponding author. E-mail: frolik@arup.cas.cz
ARtICLe INFo
Article history:
Received: 22
th
December 2015
Accepted: 7
th
April 2017
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.24916/iansa.2017.1.5
Key words:
skeletal remains
paleopathological analysis
Forestier’s
disease
Bekhterev’s disease
short tandem repeats
Y-chromosome
haplogroup
haplotype
DNA extraction
ABStRACt
Six graves situated on the edge of the settled town suburb of Český Brod have been dated to the 2
nd
half
of the 15
th
century. The group of graves situated outside the regular cemetery, and with one exception
reverently buried individuals, raised the question regarding its interpretation. Anthropological study
identifed six men of diferent age with many post-traumatic changes on the bones, excessive physical
strain and numerous other pathologies. DNA-based examination ruled out the possibility that they were
members of minority groups (Jews, Gypsies). People buried on this site are interpreted as people in a
marginal position in contemporary society.
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IANSA 2017 ● VIII/1 ● 59–75
Jan Frolík, Petra Stránská, Jitka Votrubová, Barbora Emmerová, Daniel Vaněk: People “on the Margin”: A Medieval Cemetery in Český Brod – Malechov
(Central Bohemia)
60
genetics), based mainly on the verifcation of a possible
relationship between the buried individuals. Anthropology
could give the essential knowledge about the physical
condition of the buried, their illness or injuries. The selection
of the samples for DNA analysis was based on visual
observations of the skeletal remains. It was decided to use
only intact teeth as these provide a very high success rate
(Katzmarzyk 2007).
2. Description of the Site and Finds
2.1 Description of the Terrain
The terrain at the site was rather simple. The subsoil consisted
of weathered rock (red or rusty mudstone) at a depth of 0.9–
1.2 m below the roadway surface. The individual graves (A,
B, C, F and G) and also two shallow pits (feature D with a
depth of 0.17 m and feature E with 0.42 m) were deepened