BIOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION OF HUMAN
POPULATIONS IN POLAND IN THE FEUDAL PERIOD AND THE BEGINNING
OF THE INDUSTRIALISATION
SUMMARY
In this study the influence of the social structure on the biological condition of human
populations in Poland from the 9th to the beginning of the 20 th century is discussed. The study is
based on the assumption that the biological condition is modified by the social and cultural elements
of the human system. Possible changes in the biological structure of the investigated populations
may result from the processes related to a particular territory and historical period (e.g. the
settlement, economic, and especially social changes). In order to verify this hypothesis an analysis of
the biological structure of the skeletal populations was carried out. The populations were divided
into groups reflecting three main stages of the social and industrial development of the feudal system
(the early feudal period from the 10th to the 12th century, the fully developed form of feudalism that
lasted throughout the 13th and the 15th centuries, and finally the period between the 16th and the
18th centuries delimiting the close of the feudal system). The above-mentioned stages were
distinguished according to the intensity of the changes (both qualitative and quantitative) in the
social, settlement and economic structures.
The objective of the analysis is to estimate the extent to which the social differentiation in Poland
influenced the particular elements of the biological structure of human populations.
Two types of anthropological data were used in this study: (1) skeletal materials found in burial
grounds and other sepulchral sites in Poland (68 local groups), (2) data concerning living individuals
compiled on the basis of recruit records, censuses or the studies carried out under the surveillance of
special research institutions (such as the Anthropometric Committee of the Polish Academy of
Science).
The studied 68 skeletal populations (Table 1, Figure 1) were divided into five chronological
periods (with the following mean expressed in years: 1050, 1200, 1350, 1500 and 1650), and into
three settlement category: village, town and city (indicated with W, M, M-l or ,,wiejska", ,,miejska",
,,wielkomiejska" in tables and figures).
The study of social differentiation was extended upon the separation of one additional category
grouping individuals coming probably from higher social strata (indicated with K or ,,wyzsze
warstwy" in tables and figures). This group consists of the people whose skeletal remains were
deposited inside churches and monastery crypts and in burial grounds located next to cathedrals,
collegiate churches and castles. The isolation of this sample was based on the fact that with
advancing Chrystianization a common practice appeared of choosing a burial place according to the
social position. The most respectable individuals were buried inside churches or in their close
vicinity, others on the periphery of the necropolis.
This type of categorisation enabled the description and the analysis of the studied material. Data
were elaborated independently for both sexes using ANOVA, Smirnov- Kolmogorov test (by means
of STATGRAPHICS Plus 6.0) and the principal component a-analysis. Figures presents averages
and weighted averages in the investigated traits (indicated with x-arytmet. and x-wazona).
In the analysis of the changes of the mortality structure only the skeletons of adult were taken
into account (5006 individuals. Table 4). The most essential changes in the mortality structure
concerned the frequency of the adultus and maturus age categories, and additionally senile
individuals at the decline of the feudal system (Figs. 3-4). The discussed processes were more
distinct for women and particularly evident in cities (Figs. 5-6). Skeletal remains found in crypts and
in the burial grounds located next to cathedral and castles were identified in most cases as senile
individuals (Figs. 11-12). That may have been a result of higher living standards attained by that
group of local population.
Both sexes experienced insignificant increase in the average life span (Table 7) in the feudal
period (approximately 4 years).
The changes in size and proportions of the postcranial skeleton (4153 individuals) were analysed
using selected metric traits and the indices of four long bones (humerus, radius, femur and tibia).
These bones were characterised by the maximum length (in Table 5 indicated as H M-l, R M-l, F Ml, T M-la) and five indices . Three of them relate to the massiveness of humerus (Hm), femur (Fm)
and tibia (Tm), and they describe the proportions, i.e. humorous-radius (R/H) and femur-tibia (T/F).
The mean values of the maximum length of the bones were employed for the stature reconstruction using Pearson method (Table 9). The stature differentiated the studied populations
mainly in the course of the essential changes of the environmental conditions (1200-1350). However,
this feature's influence on the general variability decreased at the close of the feudal period. A
similar tendency was observed in the case of the sexual dimorphism of the stature (Fig. 59).
The character of the mortality changes at the beginning of the industrial period was studied in one
of the geographical and historical regions of Poland, namely in Great Poland (Wielkopolska). The
mortality process in Great Poland reflected two main phases of demographic and social development
of human population (Fig. 91). First of them refers to the traditional rural society and was
characterised by very slow changes of demographic indicators in the long term and their
considerable differentiation in short time. The second phase is connected with the industrial changes
that took place in Great Poland between 1871 and 1914 and initiated the demographic revolution.
Undoubtedly, the decline of the feudalism (especially following the Swedish war) had an adverse
effect on the living conditions of urban societes. This tendency continued and probably grew during
the industrial change (Figs, 89,90).
The changes in the stature at the beginning of the industrial period were assessed on the basis of
the data on recruits and soldiers. The investigated period revealed only small differences in the
stature in the studied group.
Conclusions
1. A considerable consistency of the changes of the biological structure of human populations and
essential socio-economic processes in the feudal Poland was discovered.
2. The studied skeletal material revealed the differentiating influence of the social structure on the
biological state of human populations both in the feudal period and at the industrial turn.
3. The influence was more evident in the case of the individuals coming from various social strata
than in the territorial aspect (differences between rural and urban areas).
4. Both the stature and the average life span turned out to be good indicators of the changes of
living conditions of human population in Poland presented in this paper.