Doe Danielle M, Candelas González Nieves, Gutiérrez González José Avelino, Cambra-Moo Oscar, González Martín Armando
Laboratorio de Poblaciones del Pasado, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Arqueología Antigua y Medieval: Territorio, Sociedad y Cultura Material ARQUEOS, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain.
Am J Hum Biol. 2025 May;37(5):e70054. doi: 10.1002/ajhb.70054.
The objectives of this investigation were to study puberty in medieval adolescents from northern Spain and use funerary archaeology data to explore the social implications of adolescence within this community.
The pubertal development of 37 skeletons (aged 8-25 years) from Marialba de la Ribera (León, Spain, 3rd to 15th centuries AD) was assessed, with 32 assigned a pubertal stage. Using this information in conjunction with burial location, the relationship between physical maturity and social identity was considered.
Onset of the pubertal growth spurt was observed to occur between 10 and 12 years, but delays in reaching the later pubertal stages resulted in extended adolescent growth. Menarche age was placed at 16 years. Developmental patterns observed suggest delays compared with modern adolescents but were similar to other past populations. Regarding cemetery distribution, most individuals who died while prepubescent or in the early puberty stages were buried within the children's section, while those in later puberty or postpuberty were not.
Growth deceleration appears to have been the point at which individuals were no longer considered children in this population. This stage marks a critical turning point in pubertal development because, although not fully mature, adolescents exhibit physical characteristics resembling those of adults and are able to undertake tasks and fulfill roles typically reserved for adulthood. Exploring social roles shaped by the biological life cycle facilitates a deeper understanding of not only the adolescents themselves but also the communities to which they belonged and may be the only way to truly approximate adolescence in past populations.
本研究的目的是研究西班牙北部中世纪青少年的青春期，并利用丧葬考古数据探索该社区内青春期的社会影响。
对来自马里亚尔瓦·德拉里韦拉（西班牙莱昂，公元3世纪至15世纪）的37具骨骼（年龄在8至25岁之间）的青春期发育进行了评估，其中32具被确定了青春期阶段。结合这些信息和埋葬地点，探讨了身体成熟与社会身份之间的关系。
观察到青春期生长突增开始于10至12岁，但进入青春期后期的延迟导致青少年生长延长。月经初潮年龄为16岁。观察到的发育模式表明与现代青少年相比有延迟，但与其他过去的人群相似。关于墓地分布，大多数在青春期前或青春期早期死亡的个体被埋葬在儿童区域，而处于青春期后期或青春期后的个体则不是。
生长减速似乎是该人群中个体不再被视为儿童的阶段。这个阶段标志着青春期发育的一个关键转折点，因为尽管青少年尚未完全成熟，但他们展现出类似于成年人的身体特征，并且能够承担通常为成年人保留的任务和履行相应角色。探索由生物生命周期塑造的社会角色不仅有助于更深入地了解青少年本身，还能更深入地了解他们所属的社区，这可能是真正近似过去人群青春期的唯一途径。
