1st Edition
Health and Disease in Byzantine Crete (7th–12th centuries AD)
By Chryssi Bourbou
Copyright 2010
264 Pages
by
Routledge
264 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
Daily life and living conditions in the Byzantine world are relatively underexplored subjects, often neglected in comparison with more visible aspects of Byzantine culture, such as works of art. The book is among the few publications on Greek Byzantine populations and helps pioneer a new approach to the subject, opening a window on health status and dietary patterns through the lens of... Read more
Introduction; The jigsaw puzzle of health in context; In search of Homo Byzantinus; Tiny occupants in shallow graves: the bioarchaeology of non-adult individuals; The Byzantine world on a plate; Conclusions: reconstructing health and disease patterns in Byzantine Crete: results and perspectives; Glossary; References cited; Index.
Biography
Dr Chryssi Bourbou is a Research Associate at the 28th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities (Hellenic Ministry of Culture), Greece
'Bourbou does an excellent job of introducing the reader to the biochemistry involved in stable isotope analysis, a process key to determining the daily diet of these former residents of Crete.' Speculum 'This study is a milestone in the series Medicine in the Medieval Mediterranean, which is devoted to all aspects of medicine during the Middle Ages. Bourbou has provided the reader with careful analysis and interpretation of human remains dated to the Byzantine era (seventh-twelfth centuries AD) and excavated from archaeological sites on the island of Crete in Greece, such as Eleutherna, Kastella, Stylos and Petras... Bourbou’s study has laid important groundwork for future palaeopathological and bioarchaeological explorations.' Social History of Medicine 'Bourbou’s major originality and contribution to these topics is her thorough analysis of bio-archaeological remains, which complements ideally any textual and archaeological study of these subject... [it] will undoubtedly prove helpful to scholars in the field.' The Medieval Review
