[A contribution to the history of medicine in Poland: skeletal remains from a church hospital cemetery of the 14th 18th century in Leczyca (Province of Lódz)]. / Przyczynek do historii medycyny w Polsce: szczatki kostne z cmentarzyska przyszpitalnego z XIV-XVIII w. w Leczycy (woj. lódzkie).

INTRODUCTION: We present the results of an anthropological and paleopathological analysis of 7 graves discovered at the site of a church-hospital complex existing in the 14th-18th century in Leczyca (province of Lódz). The aim was to determine whether the skeletons revealed features typical for the function of the complex. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The graves contained the remains of 8 persons: 4 men (2 of them aged 20-40 years and 2 aged 40-60 years), 2 women (aged 40-60 years), and 2 children (one aged 2-4 years and a 10-month-old fetus or neonate buried together with one of the women). RESULTS: Four skeletons of adults (out of 5 skeletons in a condition adequate for the study) showed pathological (degenerative) and traumatic lesions. Pathologies of the masticatory organ (mainly intravital loss of teeth and recession of the alveolar process) were seen in all preserved adult skulls. CONCLUSIONS: The high incidence of pathologies indicates that we were dealing with the remains of patients of a hospital.