THE PALEOANTHROPOLOGICAL MATERIALS FROM THE TOMB AT THE AISLELESS CHURCH IN THE “CAVE TOWN” ATOP OF THE PLATEAU OF ESKI-KERMEN
Rubrics: ARCHAEOLOGY
Authors:
1.
V.I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University
Type:
Article
Pages:
from 337
to 363
Status:
Published
Received:
26.12.2023
Accepted:
26.12.2023
Published:
26.12.2023
Subject area:
UDK 9 География. Биография. История
UDK 902 Архелогия
UDK 902 Архелогия
Language:
Russian
Keywords:
Crimea, Eski-Kermen, anthropology, population, tomb, craniometry, osteology, paleopathology
Abstract (English):
This article discusses the paleoanthropological materials uncovered by systematic archaeological researches conducted at the ancient town of Eski-Kermen. The excavations uncovered tomb no. 7 in the aisleless church located in residential quarter 2. This church dates from the tenth to thirteenth centuries. The tomb in question, dating from the twelfth to thirteenth century, is located in the north-eastern corner of the narthex, at the depth of 1.8 m down from the rock surface of the floor. It has oval ground-plan, flat floor and ceiling, being cut in the bedrock. There is an arcosolium constructed above the tomb. The bones extracted from the tomb in question corresponded to 57 individuals, with 14 reliably interpreted as males, 11 as females, and three with sex unattributable. Almost a half of the persons (50.8%) buried in the tomb were children. The age of the buried males was 25–50 (average 34.2), of the females 17–43 (average 29). The age of buried children was from one month to 10 years. The research allowed some craniometrics and osteometric measurements. From the analysis of pathological conditions, one tends to assume that the persons buried in the tomb under study probably formed a privileged group that did not experienced extreme stress pressure. Generally, the documented changes in osseous apparatus possibly were typical for mediaeval urban population.
This article discusses the paleoanthropological materials uncovered by systematic archaeological researches conducted at the ancient town of Eski-Kermen. The excavations uncovered tomb no. 7 in the aisleless church located in residential quarter 2. This church dates from the tenth to thirteenth centuries. The tomb in question, dating from the twelfth to thirteenth century, is located in the north-eastern corner of the narthex, at the depth of 1.8 m down from the rock surface of the floor. It has oval ground-plan, flat floor and ceiling, being cut in the bedrock. There is an arcosolium constructed above the tomb. The bones extracted from the tomb in question corresponded to 57 individuals, with 14 reliably interpreted as males, 11 as females, and three with sex unattributable. Almost a half of the persons (50.8%) buried in the tomb were children. The age of the buried males was 25–50 (average 34.2), of the females 17–43 (average 29). The age of buried children was from one month to 10 years. The research allowed some craniometrics and osteometric measurements. From the analysis of pathological conditions, one tends to assume that the persons buried in the tomb under study probably formed a privileged group that did not experienced extreme stress pressure. Generally, the documented changes in osseous apparatus possibly were typical for mediaeval urban population.
Keywords:
Crimea, Eski-Kermen, anthropology, population, tomb, craniometry, osteology, paleopathology
Crimea, Eski-Kermen, anthropology, population, tomb, craniometry, osteology, paleopathology
