Abstract:
Our knowledge of how society viewed leprosy and treated its victims in the past is still scarce, especially in geographical regions and archaeological periods from where no written sources are available. To fill in some research gaps, we provide the comparative analysis of five previously described, probable cases with leprosy from the Avar-period Trans-Tisza region (Hungary). The five skeletons were subject to a detailed macromorphological (re-)evaluation. Where possible, the biological and social consequences of having leprosy were reconstructed based on the observed bony changes and mortuary treatment, respectively. The retrospective, macromorphology-based diagnosis of leprosy could be established in three cases only. Based on the detected skeletal lesions, all of them suffered from near-lepromatous or lepromatous leprosy. The disease resulted in aesthetic repercussions and functional implications, which would have been disadvantageous for these individuals, and limited or changed their possibilities to participate in social situations. They could have even required heavy time investment from their respective communities. The analysis of the mortuary treatment of the confirmed leprosy cases revealed no evidence of a social stigma. These findings indicate that the afflicted have not been systematically expulsed or segregated, at least in death, in the Early Middle Ages of the Carpathian Basin.
摘要:
我们对社会过去如何看待麻风病和对待其受害者的了解仍然很少,特别是在没有书面资料的地理区域和考古时期。为了填补一些研究空白,我们提供了前面描述的五个的比较分析,来自阿瓦尔时期跨蒂萨地区(匈牙利)的麻风病可能病例。对这五个骨骼进行了详细的宏观形态(重新)评估。在可能的情况下,根据观察到的骨骼变化和太平间治疗,重建了麻风病的生物学和社会后果,分别。回顾展,仅在3例病例中可以建立基于宏观形态学的麻风病诊断。根据检测到的骨骼损伤,他们都患有近麻风病或麻风病。这种疾病导致了美学影响和功能影响,这对这些人来说是不利的,限制或改变了他们参与社交场合的可能性。他们甚至可能需要各自社区投入大量时间。对确诊麻风病病例的太平间治疗的分析没有发现社会污名的证据。这些调查结果表明,受害者没有被系统地驱逐或隔离,至少在死亡中,在喀尔巴厘盆地的中世纪早期。