Title of the master´s thesis:
Anthropological investigation of human remains from an early modern graveyard in Koblenz with focus on pathological changes
In 2015, during preparatory archaeological works, an old graveyard was found at a construction site in the city center of Koblenz. At least 31 skeletons could be found in single graves. The few burial gifts indicate (with reservations) that the graveyard was used in the early modern period between the 12th and 15th century.
The primary focus of the thesis will be an anthropological diagnosis of all individuals by morphological and morphometric based techniques. Due to the high fragmentation of the skeletons also molecular, histological and radiological methods will be used to make the diagnosis as complete as possible. The main tasks of this thesis are the determinations of sex, age, and pathologies of the single individuals. Given the context of an old Dominican monastery in the west of the graveyard, it can be hypothesized that it was used to bury descendent monks. In this case only male individuals with a higher age of death would be expected. Otherwise it might have been an ordinary graveyard for local residents of the western city or the staff of the Dominican monastery could have been buried here. During the excavation the archaeologists noticed many pathological changes at the bones. Those will be investigated more closely. The pathologies might give us an impression of the circumstances of life, nutrition, hygiene and medical care in the early modern period.

Vorträge:
12.09.2018 - Dr. Birgit Großkopf und Anna Katharina Sommer bei der "Gesellschaft für Archäologie an Mittelrhein und Mosel e.V."

Publikation:
Sommer AK; Grosskopf B (2020): Ergebnisse der anthropologischen Untersuchung der Skelette Fundstelle Weisser Gasse. In: J. Schamper, Töpfer, Wirte und Beginen. Die mittelalterliche und neuzeitliche Besiedlung der Weisser Gasse in Koblenz. Archäologische Forschungen an Mittelrhein und Mosel 1. 152-171.