This girl fled war and epidemic, but the plague caught up with her 400 years ago.
In 2002, in Ochla, a village near Zielona Góra, Poland, a landowner building a veranda came across the bones. A victim of a crime? A World War II soldier? The landowner called the police. However, instead of a Wehrmacht soldier's badge, the police found silver thalers. It became obvious that the find could be several centuries old, and archaeologists were invited to the site. After the excavations, the scientists transported the findings to the Archaeological Museum in Svidnica, where they can still be seen today.
A few years ago, experts conducted a detailed study of the skeleton from Ochle. It turned out that the bones belonged to a girl in her 20s, of short stature (153 cm). The unknown woman was given the name ‘Lyubushka’. But when did she die? This question was answered by coins: 11 silver thalers. The oldest was minted in 1557 and the youngest in 1629, and this coin showed almost no signs of wear. The coins came from different places and mints, e.g. three from Saxony, four from the Netherlands. There was even a bishop's thaler from Salzburg. At that time, money travelled with merchants and soldiers, knowing no borders. The 11 thalers were of great value. The girl was most likely a townswoman.
Researchers believe that ‘Lubushka’ died around 1630. There was the Thirty Years War, in the city was rampant hunger, robbery and disease. The chronicles also record a plague epidemic, which killed two-thirds of the inhabitants of Zielona Góra at that time. Many people, fleeing from the plague and hostile armies, fled from the town to Ochla. Perhaps ‘Lyubushka’ was among the refugees, as her grave was located at the crossroads where the route from Zelena Góra to Ochla was travelled.
Since the girl had her coins with her, it means that she was buried in a hurry, and the grave is rather deep - 1.35 metres, a standard burial in those times was about 70 cm deep. This suggests possible death by plague. That is why the body was not searched and buried deeper, scientists believe. True, no signs of disease were found on the bones, but the plague leaves traces if it drags on, and ‘Lyubushka’ probably died quickly.
Anthropologists found on the girl's teeth signs of years of starvation or diseases suffered in childhood. Apart from coins, only tiny traces of a leather pouch containing thalers were found along with the bones. There are greenish spots on the phalanges of the right hand, probably from a bronze or brass shirt clasp. Two small iron staples that were part of the buckle were also found.
Scientists decided to recreate the appearance of ‘Lyubushka’, for which they made a computer tomography of the skull. The virtual portrait was made by expert criminalist Dorota Lorkiewicz-Muszyńska. DNA analysis helped to establish the colour of eyes and hair. ‘Lubushka’ was provided with long straight hair - such simple hairstyles were common in her time.
In 2019, the exhibition ‘Lubushka Jane Doe, or Private History of the Times of War and Plague’ (Jane Doe is a conventional name often given to an unidentified woman in English-speaking countries) was dedicated to the 17th-century girl.
Equator AI
This girl fled war and epidemic, but the plague caught up with her 400 years ago.
In 2002, in Ochla, a village near Zielona Góra, Poland, a landowner building a veranda came across the bones. A victim of a crime? A World War II soldier? The landowner called the police. However, instead of a Wehrmacht soldier's badge, the police found silver thalers. It became obvious that the find could be several centuries old, and archaeologists were invited to the site. After the excavations, the scientists transported the findings to the Archaeological Museum in Svidnica, where they can still be seen today.
A few years ago, experts conducted a detailed study of the skeleton from Ochle. It turned out that the bones belonged to a girl in her 20s, of short stature (153 cm). The unknown woman was given the name ‘Lyubushka’. But when did she die? This question was answered by coins: 11 silver thalers. The oldest was minted in 1557 and the youngest in 1629, and this coin showed almost no signs of wear. The coins came from different places and mints, e.g. three from Saxony, four from the Netherlands. There was even a bishop's thaler from Salzburg. At that time, money travelled with merchants and soldiers, knowing no borders. The 11 thalers were of great value. The girl was most likely a townswoman.
Researchers believe that ‘Lubushka’ died around 1630. There was the Thirty Years War, in the city was rampant hunger, robbery and disease. The chronicles also record a plague epidemic, which killed two-thirds of the inhabitants of Zielona Góra at that time. Many people, fleeing from the plague and hostile armies, fled from the town to Ochla. Perhaps ‘Lyubushka’ was among the refugees, as her grave was located at the crossroads where the route from Zelena Góra to Ochla was travelled.
Since the girl had her coins with her, it means that she was buried in a hurry, and the grave is rather deep - 1.35 metres, a standard burial in those times was about 70 cm deep. This suggests possible death by plague. That is why the body was not searched and buried deeper, scientists believe. True, no signs of disease were found on the bones, but the plague leaves traces if it drags on, and ‘Lyubushka’ probably died quickly.
Anthropologists found on the girl's teeth signs of years of starvation or diseases suffered in childhood. Apart from coins, only tiny traces of a leather pouch containing thalers were found along with the bones. There are greenish spots on the phalanges of the right hand, probably from a bronze or brass shirt clasp. Two small iron staples that were part of the buckle were also found.
Scientists decided to recreate the appearance of ‘Lyubushka’, for which they made a computer tomography of the skull. The virtual portrait was made by expert criminalist Dorota Lorkiewicz-Muszyńska. DNA analysis helped to establish the colour of eyes and hair. ‘Lubushka’ was provided with long straight hair - such simple hairstyles were common in her time.
In 2019, the exhibition ‘Lubushka Jane Doe, or Private History of the Times of War and Plague’ (Jane Doe is a conventional name often given to an unidentified woman in English-speaking countries) was dedicated to the 17th-century girl.
3 weeks ago | [YT] | 386