Analiza antropologică a resturilor scheletice din Biserica Mare a Mănăstirii Hurezi (com. Romanii de Jos, jud. Vâlcea)
Anthropological analysis of the skeletal remains from Biserica Mare of the Hurezi Monastery (Romanii de Jos commune, Vâlcea County)

Summary/Abstract: Investigations of the main church of the Hurezi Monastery revealed osteological remains belonging to four individuals: three male skeletons (M1, M2 and M3) were discovered when the tomb of archimandrite (abbot) Ioan was opened, together with one female skeleton deposited in a brick crypt found under the sarcophagus of Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu. All three males are old adults, while the female has been determined to be a young adult. The identification of the remains of skeleton M3 was helped by the discovery of a brick containing an inscription with the date of the death of prior Dionisie. For the identification of archimandrite Ioan (the first to hold this rank at Hurezi Monastery, deceased at June 15, 1726, according to the inscription on the grave plate), we were able to use a document belonging to Nicolae Iorga which mentioned that the archimandrite suffered from gout. A palaeopathological analysis of the osteological remains did not yield any bone changes specific to gout. However, the analysis of pathognomonic skeletal markers does not exclude the possibility that the archimandrite did indeed suffer from the disease. On the other hand, the skeletal remains show pathological changes indicative of chronic arthritis, which can, in fact, represent gout. This makes us confident that the skeletal remains found in the tomb M2 do indeed belong to archimandrite Ioan. We mention that the anthropological analyses is accompanied by a medical expertise (Appendix 2)

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