Bioarcheological Perspectives on the Timing of Adolescence in Rural Avar-Age Austria, 7th-9th Centuries ce.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

This study provides insights into adolescent development during the early medieval period in Austria and offers a point of comparison of the timing of sexual maturation relative to the Imperial Roman and the late medieval periods.

Materials and methods

The timing of adolescent development of 89 individuals in two rural cemeteries from the middle to late Avar period (ca. 650-800 ce) was reconstructed using skeletal and dental indicators. This is the first study to employ genetic sex estimation via ancient DNA on all analyzed adolescents, enabling robust assessment of sex-specific patterns of growth and development.

Results

Females were on average 1-2 years younger than males at each development stage. Adolescents appear to have developed later during the lat

SUBMITTER: Klostermann P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12441998 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature