Egy specifikus büntetési forma? – Végtag-amputációs esetek a 9. századi Mosaburg (Zalavár) vonzáskörzetében

Évinger, Sándor (2019) Egy specifikus büntetési forma? – Végtag-amputációs esetek a 9. századi Mosaburg (Zalavár) vonzáskörzetében. ANTHROPOLOGIAI KÖZLEMÉNYEK, 60. pp. 27-42. ISSN 0003-5440

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Abstract

Mosaburg (Zalavár, Hungary) was the easternmost marquisate of the Frankish Empire in the second half of the 9th century. From this centre and its immediate agglomeration a surprisingly large number of limb amputation cases have been found. This paper presents three new finds, and reviews four cases published earlier. All the seven individuals were males with their left leg cut off just above the ankle joint (and with the simultaneous amputation of the right hand in one case). Two of them died without any sign of healing, whereas the others showed partial (one case) or complete (four cases) healing. Considering the possible causative factors, these were the most probably punitive amputations. While ordering limb amputation as punishment was part of various law books throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, evidence for this phenomenon is unexpectedly infrequent in medieval skeletal assemblages. From this aspect, 9th century Mosaburg seems to be a rare exception. When looking at the 8th–10th century series from the territory of Europe for possible parallels, we can only discover one region where similar number of presumably punitive limb amputations has been found: the 9th century Moravian Basin (especially Mikulčice and its surroundings). However, it is unclear whether it marks a direct connection between the two power centres, or both adapted this custom from a third source independently.

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