CHILDREN CEMETERY OF 11th—12th c. AT THE PODIL DISTRICT OF KYIV

In the cities of the Middle Ages children was the most sensitive group of people who responded to starvation, infection and social stress with high mortality rate and increased morbidity. 7 children’s burials (one belongs to twins of 6—9 month), located relatively compact on the outskirts of the lower city, were investigated in this project. Most children died at the age between 1 month and 3 years old. They have vestiges of metabolic disorders (scurvy, rickets and anemia) and infectious diseases (tuberculosis, nonspecific meningitis) on the bones. In one case, differential diagnosis was performed between congenital syphilis and rickets. Both diseases rarely happened in ancient Kiev. The pathological profile virtually repeats the pattern of morbidity in adolescents and young women buried in the marginal cemeteries of Podil. Regarding, studied complex can be considered a children’s quarter on the territory of some burial ground of the period. On the other hand, the similarity of the symptoms in most children, as well as two children (possibly twins) in one coffin indicates that at least part of them could die during one of the epidemics that took place in Kiev during the 11th—12th centuries which were obviously the most active on Podil.