Increased deposition of skeletal remains in the ossuary in Nížkov during the 14th century, 14C dated with typhoid fever
Abstract
The ossuary in Nížkov near Žďár nad Sázavou, on the Czech-Moravian border, contains approximately five to eight thousand skeletal remains. Several tibial plateaus and femoral condyles from Nížkov (N13) exhibited probable signatures of the rheumatoid form of typhoid osteomyelitis.
The pilot research of 2016 consisted of the necessary remediation of the skeletal material in the ossuary. Skeletal remains were found to be firmly attached to the pillars of the ossuary; in cases where the pillars would have needed to be disassembled or the specimens disrupted, photographs were taken.
In addition, there are several bones with pathological changes embedded in these pillars which cannot be transferred to laboratories for analysis. Photographic documentation of the ossuary exteriors, bone pillars and the pathologies present were produced in the pilot study. 14C dating showed that the deposition of skeletal remains in the ossuary in Nížkov occurred not only during Theresian Wars, as stated in the local chronicles, but also in the 14th century.
The causes of the deposition of skeletal remains in the 14th century, the Little Ice Age, are discussed here. Newly, a sample with typhoid osteomyelitis - a tibial fragment indicating a typhoid epidemic - was radiocarbon (14C) dated into this period.