A Case Study of Childhood Metabolic Stress in 11th–12th Century Giecz, Poland

The article presents a case of a child burial discovered at the early medieval cemetery in Giecz (site Gz 10). The grave contained the remains of a child who died at approximately 2 – 4.5 years of age. Detailed anthropological analysis revealed numerous pathological changes, indicating that the individual experienced chronic metabolic stress, malnutrition, or a disease that affected skeletal development. After excluding other possible conditions, it was concluded that the most probable causes of the observed lesions were scurvy, anaemia, and/or nonspecific infections. This case study provides preliminary observations on the health of a child during the early Piast period in Poland to enhance our understanding of the living conditions of populations inhabiting this region during a time of significant sociohistorical transformation