**2.2.3 Mikulčice "Kostelisko", the suburb of the fortifications**

The second area under study is the burial place named "Kostelisko". It takes place in the suburb of the acropolis and is considered as the servants, craftsmen of the castle (Velemínský, 2000; Velemínský et al., 2005). It corresponds to a lower social class than the

The archaeological site of Mikulčice-Valy is the vastest site in Czech Republic, which is registered as national cultural heritage, and has competed for the World's heritage centre of Unesco since 2001 (http://whc.unesco.org). Situated at 7 km southern from the town Hodonín, near the border of Slovakia, the power centre of Mikulčice was established at the beginning of the 6th century and knew its height between the 9th and 10th centuries (Poláček,

The power centre of Mikulčice is a large fortified settlement, discovered at the end of the 19th century. It is constituted by remains of a palace, at least 12 churches accompanied by several cemeteries, representing more than 2500 burials (Poláček, 2000; Poláček & Marek, 2005; Třeštík, 2001). The remains of the palace were found at the top of some hill above the ancient

The different churches were built around the palace and the basilica (church n°3 on the plan). Archaeological remains suggest that the highest social class (aristocratic part of the population and churchmen) was buried in the cemeteries near these areas. Further the other churches are, lower are the socioeconomic status of the people buried in the adjacent

This organization shows that we could study different social groups in a same site belonging to the same historical period. This is the case and an incredible chance for an anthropological study. However, we must be cautious, because in such settlement moving from urbanization, the limits of each burial place are often difficult to separate and cultural data are missing to exactly differentiate each part of the population. That is why the collections under study come from clear different part of the site in order to have different

The cemetery directly linked to the basilica (named "Bazilika") is of the richest burial place of the area. Many archaeological remains were found suggesting that the upper class was buried here (Poláček et al., 2006). Around the Basilica (IIIrd church) were discovered 564 burials (Poláček, 2008). There are 314 adults, 221 non-adult individuals and 29 individuals with un-estimated age (Stloukal, 1967). The sample under study comprises 217 juvenile individuals (the last four are too poor preserved to be included in the data), ranging from birth to adolescence. In the figures and table, this sample is named Mikulčice Bazilika and is

The second area under study is the burial place named "Kostelisko". It takes place in the suburb of the acropolis and is considered as the servants, craftsmen of the castle (Velemínský, 2000; Velemínský et al., 2005). It corresponds to a lower social class than the

**2.2 Mikulčice-Valy, how to gather different socioeconomic status in a same** 

**archaeological site?** 

2000; Třeštík, 2001).

cemeteries.

socioeconomic classes.

abbreviated "MkB".

**2.2.2 Mikulčice "Bazilika", burying the upper social class** 

**2.2.3 Mikulčice "Kostelisko", the suburb of the fortifications** 

**2.2.1 The power centre organization** 

channel of the Morava River (Fig.2).

individuals buried around the basilica. Once again, we must be cautious because of the possible mixture between the parts of the population and the part of the cultural way of thinking that we have no clues.

The second sample under study comprises 425 burials holding 235 juvenile individuals. The skeletons, correctly preserved, present the same age-at-death range than the "Basilika" sample. In the figures and table, this sample is named Mikulčice Kostelisko and is abbreviated "MkK".

Fig. 2. Mikulčice-Valy, general plan of the site and topography (adapted from Poláček, 2008)

Socioeconomic Influence on Caries Susceptibility in Juvenile Individuals

Four features were observed and scored for the lesions:

(also referred as cervical region or neck), and the crown;

They take more than 50% of the tooth surface.

all the more right when we attempt to analyze dental enamel hypoplasia.

Table 1. Tooth samples for each site

The number of caries per tooth;

to 50% of the tooth surface;

**3.1.1 Dental caries** 

a dental probe.

lesions.

surface;

**3.1.2 Dental enamel hypoplasia** 

Four characteristics have been recorded: The number of hypoplasia per tooth;

The type of hypoplasia: linear, pitting or plane;

permanent teeth.

with Limited Dental Care: Example from an Early Middle Age Population … 41

The presence of caries was scored in all tooth types that is to say on deciduous and permanent teeth when detected macroscopically. When there was a doubt on caries development because of the tooth preservation, the development of the lesion was tested by

The area & side where the lesion occurred: occlusal, buccal, lingual or interproximal

The location of the lesion on the anatomical tooth: the root, the cement-enamel junction

Stage 1: small lesion which affects only the enamel and less than 10% of the tooth

Stage 2: medium lesion which affects both enamel and dentin and spread from 10%

Stage 3: large lesions penetrating all the dental tissues, enamel, dentin and pulp.

These simple stages are easy to define, thus the results of scoring would be less prone to errors, because in archaeological record there are some cases of complex observations (Hillson, 2001), even if we cannot totally avoid subjectivity in such study. This subjectivity is

Hypoplastic defects occur in three forms: linear, pitting and plane. However, their expression is different on deciduous and permanent dentition (Lukacs et al., 2001a; Lukacs et al., 2001b; Ogden et al., 2007). We chose to take into consideration the enamel hypoplasia only on the permanent teeth for the quoted features. Nevertheless, a paragraph in the results will be devoted to the different expressions of enamel hypoplasia on deciduous teeth. The presence of macroscopically observed enamel hypoplasia was noted in all types of

The severity of the defect on a three-stages scale (only for linear defects) (fig. 4):

And finally, the severity of the lesion was quoted on a three-stages scale (fig. 3):

Sample Deciduous teeth Permanent teeth Total MkB 894 651 1545 MkK 1103 1790 2893 Pk 823 862 1685 Total 2820 3303 **6123** 

### **2.2.4 Comparison with other data**

The two first samples show contrasting socioeconomic status, whether we consider that the populations were clear separated in the Mikulčice settlement. In order to compare the "urban" samples with a clear different lifestyle, we chose to study a third sample coming from a rural cemetery in the hinterland of Mikulčice.

The archaeological site of Prušánky, is situed at less than 10 km from Mikulčice. This geographical closeness does not reflect proximity in the lifestyle. Indeed, the cemetery associated at this site represents a rural population (Beeby et al., 1982). The location near the power center induces clear exchanges between the two community, but the lifestyle is different. This second site seemed to be self-sufficient (Klanica, 2006a). 676 burials accompanied by Moravian archaeological remains were excavated (Klanica, 2006b).

The last sample under study comprises 173 juvenile individuals from newborn to late adolescent. In the figures and table, this sample is named Prušánky and is abbreviated "Pk".

Thus the three samples show different socioeconomic status:


Their teeth should reflect these life conditions and socioeconomic status. All the skeletal remains are deposited in the Department of Anthropology of the National Museum in Prague.
