MORTALITY OF THE POPULATION OF POLOTSK IN THE 11th – 18th CENTURIES ACCORDING TO PALAEODEMOGRAPHIC DATA

Abstract

The article presents the results of palaeodemographic analysis of the materials of 4 necropolises from the territory of Polotsk. The general features of mortality rates in the population groups of Polotsk of the 11th – 13th and 17th – 18th centuries have been established. The age distribution of mortality in the general samples has a character typical for pre-industrial populations: the peak of mortality occurs in early childhood, then mortality decreases, reaching a minimum at the age of 15–20 years, after which it begins to increase. All osteological samples studied are characterised by varying degrees of undercounting of child remains, particularly infants. The mean age of death of adult females is lower than that of males, the difference ranging from 0.6 years to 4 years. In all samples, mortality peaks in women at a young age, and the probability of death in reproductive age is increased compared to men. The lowest demographic indicators are noted in the group of Polotsk's medieval population of the 13th – 14th centuries, which may reflect one of the episodes of ‘catastrophic’ mortality associated with military actions or the plague epidemic of the mid-14th century.