The human skeleton from the late iron age burial of Shirakavan (Armenia): a case study

This paper presents an bioarchaeological case study from Shirakavan. The skeletal remains belong to a male aged 40-45 years of age at death, with a stature above the average (177 cm). The presence of a horse skeleton in the discussed burial suggests that the human skeleton may have belonged to a horse rider. At the proximal end of the femur, there are some enthesopathies previously noted as common in horse riders. Analyses revealed a variety of pathologies, allowing inferences about the lifestyle and well-being of individual from Late Iron Age. The male suffered two cranial fractures, in nasal bones and frontal bone. Accidental falls involving facial injury may have contributed to antemortem tooth loss. Fractures ribs in the individual may be the result of direct blows to the chest or/from falling off of a horse. The clavicle injury observed in the individual discussed here can also be caused by a fall. There is degenerative pitting of the body of the neck vertebras indicating disc damage. Several vertebrae were asymmetrical (scoliosis). Perhaps mastoiditis was the leading cause of death at the individual from Shirakavan

The rider of the burial of the VII-VI B. C.: The history of life and death according to physical anthropology (examination of the remains of the monument Shirakavan)

Описывается скелет человека из раскопок могильника Ширакаван (Армения). Биоархеологический анализ выявил различные патологии, позволяющие реконструировать жизнедеятельность индивида, погребенного в эпоху широкого освоения производства железа. Целью исследования является выявление вариантов травм для реконструкции социальной обстановки, в которой могли быть получены повреждения. Проявленная агрессия по отношению к индивиду могла быть результатом сложной социально-политической обстановки, царящей в эту эпоху. Кроме травматических повреждений фиксируются признаки интенсивных физических нагрузок на скелете, связанных с трудовой деятельностью, и различные инфекционные заболевания. У индивида обнаружен абсцесс головного мозга, что согласуется с диагнозом туберкулеза. Эти данные позволяют предположить, что стрессовые условия жизни и труда были достаточно суровыми. Этот случай подчеркивает важность палеопатологического анализа для исторической реконструкции . The article provides the description a human skeleton, recovered during the archeological excavation of the Shirakavan burial (Armenia). Palaeopathological analyses revealed a variety of pathologies, allowing inferences about the lifestyle and well-being of an individual from Late Iron Age in Armenia. The study aims to trace the possible evidence of violent interactions that may have happened to the individual. The violent behavior may be the result of the social and political disruption during this period. In addition to traumatic injuries, skeletal lesions are associated with heavy labor and infectious diseases. The man from this cemetery is of special interest owing to the presence of lesions associated with tuberculosis that resulted in a brain abscess. These data suggest stressful living conditions and heavy labor of the period. This case highlights the importance of supplementing palaeopathological analyses with research using historical reconstructions