Anthropological and Pathologic-Posttraumatic Characteristics of Ancient Human Remains from the Burials of Izmeri XXVI Burial Ground on the Basis of Craniological and Medical-Forensic Study Results

The paper features preliminary results of an anthropological study of bone remains from the burials of Izmeri XVI burial ground (11th – 9th centuries B.C.) located in the Spassky district of the Tatarstan Republic. A total of five skeletons, four male and one female, were studied using a craniological program and medical-criminalistic analysis techniques. The male skulls are generally characterized as mesocranial with a relatively wide and low horizontally well-profiled face and a central protrusion of the nasal bones. In general, the series corresponds to the Caucasian morphotype, but features an inclusion of Mongoloid elements of the Ural or West Siberian genesis (prognathism of the face, particularly in its alveolar portion, and a minor nose protrusion on individual sculls). In terms of morphology, the female skull corresponds to one of the variants of the Ural race. A comparative analysis involving a synchronous series from the Middle Volga region demonstrated a morphological similarity of the male skulls from Izmeri XVI burial mound with the skulls from Maklasheevka (Murzikha II, Devichy Gorodok IV, etc.) and Early Ananyino burials (Izmersky VII, Murzikha II, etc.) with their origin possibly related to the generally Caucasian forest-steppe population of the Urals and Western Siberia. Individual bones of postcranial skeletons feature trace of changes related with the age, pathologies and injuries of the subject. Numerous traces of post-traumatic injuries were revealed on all of the sculls. Their number varied from one to seven for individual sculls. A group of items (implements) which could have caused the injury is preliminarily determined depending on its nature, shape and size. In most cases each individual trauma could have been the cause of death of the subject. Thus, the anthropological materials of Izmeri XVI burial mound, in combination with the other materials, reflect the complex and ambiguous processes of racial and cultural genesis in the Middle Volga region in the transition period from the end of the Bronze Age to the beginning of the Iron Age

Medical-forensic research of injuries on the skulls discovered during archaeological excavations on Bolgar fortified settlement

The article presents some preliminary results of medical and forensic analysis of traumatic injuries on the skulls from medieval burials found on the territory of Bolgar fortified settlement. The researchers selected nine out of more than 300 skulls for research by visually detecting some mechanical injuries on them. Of these nine, only five were identified through stereomicroscopy, radiography, anatomical and morphological analysis as having got some intra vitam traumatic injuries, while the rest had post mortem injuries associated with exposure to some environmental factors (soil, ground waters, etc.). The study of intra vitam injuries identified specific, generic and group characteristics of traumatic weapons. It was established that not all of the identified injuries were fatal. Some injuries showed signs of healing, suggesting that the injured individual was alive some time after. Further research of lifetime injuries intends to determine objects, tools and weapons that caused traumas, and furthermore, to determine their group characteristics

The Paleopathological Characteristics of the Medieval Population of Bolgar (According to the CXCI Dig)

This article presents paleopathological characteristic of skeletal remains of one of the groups of the Bolgar fortified settlement related to the Golden Horde period. The anthropological material was obtained during archaeological excavations in the north-western part of the site in 2013 (excavation CXCI). The authors have analyzed remains of 35 individuals: 16 women, 8 men and 11 children. Our work consisted of two parts: 1) osteoscopy and radiography (with parallel attempts to reconstruct mechanisms behind development of a number of trauma-driven pathologies by forensic methods); 2) osteoscopy of the dentoalveolar system to determine the following pathologies: caries, osteomyelitis of the jaw, dental calculus, parodontopathy, antemortem tooth loss, enamel hypoplasia. The authors have marked out several types of pathological changes that show living and military activity of the studied group. The data we thus obtained allow the researchers us to infer that their diet may have consisted, predominantly, of coarse, viscous food, rich in carbonhydrates, and that they were exposed to very pressing stress factors