Sociocultural and Environmental Changes and their Biological Impact on Nonelite Polish Individuals

This dissertation integrates isotopic, biodistance, and skeletal stress data from cemeteries, Gać and Pień to study health and survival in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (PLC). The PLC (16th–18th centuries) in Poland was marked by religious migration, social inequality, and environmental change. Chapter 2 used a multiproxy approach to identify migrant status: most at Pień were local, about half at Gać were migrants, often biologically related to locals. Chapter 3 used stable isotope analyses to find minimal sex-based dietary differences, except for Pień females’ higher millet intake, and showed that market access and feudal systems influenced subsistence strategies. Chapter 4’s survival analyses indicated females and migrants with small vertebral canal size faced higher mortality, linking early-life stress and social disadvantage to reduced longevity in these communities. These findings suggest sex, migrant status, and vertebral canal size affect adult lifespan.