ИСТИНА

The “Time of Troubles” was the period of civil war in Russia started by the dynastic crisis following the death of Ivan IV, “the Terrible” in 1584, and complicated by cooling of climate and starvation of urban population in the beginning of 17th century. Bioarchaeological approach gives independent evidence for reconstruction of life conditions of people. The examination of skeletal remains in the urban parish cemetery of Yaroslavl by methods of palaeodemography and palaeopathology differentiates between samples from the 16th and 17th centuries. Typical features for the 17th-century group were the numerical predominance of men, the highest mortality rate for infants and the absence of persons aged over 50. It was established that the main cause of infantile death was scurvy (Moller-Barlow disease), which assumed epidemic proportions. In the 17th-century sample cases of congenital bacterial infections (syphilis) were described, as well higher levels of traumas in adults. The trends can be considered in the context of the political circumstances and the colder climate. Scurvy was a disease common to Roman Legionaries and to the Crusaders, and appears during periods of warfare and instability – often when these conditions coincide with a period of climatic cooling. Supported by grant RHSF 12-31-01042.