The Disturbed Sarmatian Graves from Medeleni–Ungheni. Palaeoanthropological Data

In 2015, five graves belonging to a plane Sarmatian cemetery dated in the 1st–2nd centuries AD were discovered at Medeleni–Ungheni. At least four of the five graves discovered at Medeleni were disturbed in antiquity. Four skeletons belonged to adult individuals (only women) and one skeleton comes from a child. Life expectancy at birth for this demographic batch is 33.8 years. Paleopathological analysis revealed dental diseases, metabolic disorders, joint diseases, traumas and occupational markers. All cracks and breakages that have led to fragmentation, also all disarticulations occurred postmortem, in antiquity. The traces of carnivores or rodents teeth are missing. No signs of burning. No skeletal element has any traces of cutting, which excludes intentional defleshing or excarnation. No skeletal elements from the vertebral column discovered in situ and analyzed anthropologically support decapitation theory. During the disturbance of graves and manipulation of bones, in the privacy of the primary context, they were no longer covered with soft tissues, being completely skeletonised. The skeletal elements were deliberately disturbed, manipulated and disarticulated, some of them were taken and probably subsequently buried elsewhere, in a still undiscovered place. At the present state of research, we cannot know for sure what happened in these five documented graves, but the fact that at least four of them were disturbed in antiquity, and skeletons have been troubled, cannot be a hazard

A hoard of astragals discovered in the Copper Age settlement at Iepureşti, Giurgiu County, Romania

This article presents the discovery of 25 abraded and perforated ovicaprid astragals in a burned house at the Gumelnita Copper Age settlement at Iepuresti in Southern Romania. They were analysed in terms of their processing, of the taphonomic processes that affected them (burning), and of their spatial distribution. These astragals were also analysed in the wider context of more or less similar discoveries made mainly south and east of the Carpathian Mountains, in Romania, but also south of the Danube, in Bulgaria.V članku predstavljamo odkritje 25 odrgnjenih in preluknjanih gležnjic/astragalov ovce/ koze v požgani hiši na bakrenodobni naselbini kulture Gumelnita pri kraju Lepuresti v južni Romuniji. Preučili smo obdelavo, tafonomske procese (žganje) in prostorsko razporeditev teh najdb. Gležnjice/astragale smo preučevali tudi v širšem kontekstu bolj ali manj podobnih najdb, ki so jih izdelovali v glavnem južno in vzhodno od Karpatov v Romuniji, a tudi južno od Donave v Bolgariji

The emergence of extramural cemeteries in Neolithic southeast Europe: a formally modeled chronology for Cernica, Romania

The emergence of separate cemeteries for disposal of the dead represents a profound shift in mortuary practice in the Late Neolithic of southeast Europe, with a new emphasis on the repeated use of a specific space distinct from, though still often close to, settlements. To help to time this shift more precisely, this paper presents 25 dates from 21 burials in the large cemetery at Cernica, in the Lower Danube valley in southern Romania, which are used to formally model the start, duration of use and end of the cemetery. A further six dates were obtained from four contexts for the nearby settlement. Careful consideration is given to the possibility of environmental and dietary offsets. The preferred model, without freshwater reservoir offsets, suggests that use of the Cernica cemetery probably began in 5355–5220 cal BC (95% probability) and ended in 5190–5080 cal BC (28% probability) or 5070–4940 (67% probability). The implications of this result are discussed, including with reference to other cemeteries of similar age in the region, the nature of social relations being projected through mortuary ritual, and the incorporation of older, Mesolithic, ways of doing things into Late Neolithic mortuary practice

An integrative skeletal and paleogenomic analysis of stature variation suggests relatively reduced health for early european farmers

Human culture, biology, and health were shaped dramatically by the onset of agriculture ∼12,000 y B.P. This shift is hypothesized to have resulted in increased individual fitness and population growth as evidenced by archaeological and population genomic data alongside a decline in physiological health as inferred from skeletal remains. Here, we consider osteological and ancient DNA data from the same prehistoric individuals to study human stature variation as a proxy for health across a transition to agriculture. Specifically, we compared “predicted” genetic contributions to height from paleogenomic data and “achieved” adult osteological height estimated from long bone measurements for 167 individuals across Europe spanning the Upper Paleolithic to Iron Age (∼38,000 to 2,400 B.P.). We found that individuals from the Neolithic were shorter than expected (given their individual polygenic height scores) by an average of −3.82 cm relative to individuals from the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic (P = 0.040) and −2.21 cm shorter relative to post-Neolithic individuals (P = 0.068), with osteological vs. expected stature steadily increasing across the Copper (+1.95 cm relative to the Neolithic), Bronze (+2.70 cm), and Iron (+3.27 cm) Ages. These results were attenuated when we additionally accounted for genome-wide genetic ancestry variation: for example, with Neolithic individuals −2.82 cm shorter than expected on average relative to pre-Neolithic individuals (P = 0.120). We also incorporated observations of paleopathological indicators of nonspecific stress that can persist from childhood to adulthood in skeletal remains into our model. Overall, our work highlights the potential of integrating disparate datasets to explore proxies of health in prehistory.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The genetic history of the Southern Arc: a bridge between West Asia and Europe

By sequencing 727 ancient individuals from the Southern Arc (Anatolia and its neighbors in Southeastern Europe and West Asia) over 10,000 years, we contextualize its Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age (about 5000 to 1000 BCE), when extensive gene flow entangled it with the Eurasian steppe. Two streams of migration transmitted Caucasus and Anatolian/Levantine ancestry northward, and the Yamnaya pastoralists, formed on the steppe, then spread southward into the Balkans and across the Caucasus into Armenia, where they left numerous patrilineal descendants. Anatolia was transformed by intra–West Asian gene flow, with negligible impact of the later Yamnaya migrations. This contrasts with all other regions where Indo-European languages were spoken, suggesting that the homeland of the Indo-Anatolian language family was in West Asia, with only secondary dispersals of non-Anatolian Indo-Europeans from the steppe

Cernavodă – Columbia D puzzle : the Skull Complex

This paper focuses on the re‐ analysis of a feature from the Late Neolithic Hamangia cemetery at Cernavodă – Columbia D (Constanţa County, Romania), excavated at the middle of the last century. The analysis took place in several stages : processing of archaeological information, anthropological re‐ evaluation, combination of the two sets of data, and interpretation. The sample of the re‐ analysed human osteological material includes 11 fragmentary crania and several dozens of other cranial and postcranial remains. Two of the crania present interesting characteristics : one was cut, broken, with a postmortem trepanation, and was polished, while the other bears the traces of a benign tumoral cyst. Another skull fragment bears traces of postmortem burning. In addition to human remains, this feature yielded a pig mandible, freshwater mussel shells, a bolder, a pottery sherd and a fragment of a stalactite/ stalagmite.Lucrarea este concentrată pe reanalizarea unui complex din cimitirul neolitic Hamangia de la Cernavodă – Columbia D (jud. Constanţa, România), cercetat arheologic la mijlocul secolului trecut. Analiza a parcurs mai multe etape : procesarea informaţiilor arheologice, reevaluarea antropologică, combinarea şi interpretarea celor două seturi de date. Eşantionul scheletic uman re‐ analizat este format din 11 calote craniene şi alte câteva zeci de resturi craniene șI postcraniene. Două calote prezintă caracteristici deosebite ; una a fost decalotată, ruptă, trepanată postmortem şi şlefuită, iar alta prezintă urmele unui chist benign tumoral. La acestea adăugăm un fragment cranian cu urme de arsură (incinerare postmortem). Pe lângă resturi scheletice umane, complexul a conţinut şi o mandibulă de porc, scoici de apă dulce, o piatră, un fragment ceramic şi un fragment de stalagmită/ stalactită.Kogălniceanu Raluca, Simalcsik Angela. Cernavodă – Columbia D puzzle : the Skull Complex. In: Materiale şi cercetãri arheologice (Serie nouã), N°14 2018. pp. 33-75

The Size of the Family – A Factor Influencing Alimentation and, Implicitly, the Growth and Development Processes in Teen-Agers

Viewed as a phenomenon with multi-factorial determination, the growth and development of the human organism depend equally on the hereditary patrimony and on the environmental conditions, the socio-economic ones, especially. As a critical transition period from childhood to adult age, adolescence is characterized by increased nutritional needs. The main factor responsible for the variations manifested in human physical development is alimentation – a factor correlated with the socio-economic variations. Similarly with the case of other countries affected by transitions, the difficult economic transformations occurring in the Republic of Moldova have been accompanied by the installation of poverty – a phenomenon affecting especially the families formed of more than 5 members. The teen-agers of the Republic of Moldova register a deficit in the consumption of proteins, especially of animal origin, known as playing a critical role in the period of accelerated growing of the organism. Alimentation and family size are closely correlated with the socio-economic status of the family from which the child comes, while the attention and care given to the child by the family plays an essential part in the growth and development of the teen-ager. Child’s development as a function of such an element is directly related to environmental factors, as follows: alimentation is poorer in more numerous families, as the monthly income per member of family is more reduced, which is immediately reflected in a scarce alimentary consumption; hygiene is insufficient; mother’s care for the child is also reduced, etc. The study was performed on 1,525 subjects (boys and girls) with ages between 10 and 16 years, all from the city of Kishinev. The main parameters considered were: stature, weight and average puberal age. The results obtained show that family size influences both the average stature of the teenagers and their weight, over the 10-16 years interval, the situation being even more acute in boys than in girls – a phenomenon confirming their meso-sensitivity, especially in the most critical period of growing (adolescence). The teen-agers coming from less numerous families are taller and fatter than the ones belonging to large families. A negative relation could be also established between the sexual maturation of the adolescent girls and the size of their family: the girls from large families show a 4 month retard of the average pubertal age, comparatively with those coming from less numerous families

Artificial cranial modification northwest of the Black Sea in the Bronze Age: a case study from Ciulnița, Romania

This article presents a case of artificial cranial modification discovered in a Middle Bronze Age grave in the Ciulnița locality of Romania. The skeletal remains from Grave 38 in Mound II belonged to an adult male and indicated a circular/annular or fronto-sincipito-occipital type of artificial cranial modification, depending upon the classification used. The dating of this individual provides an opportunity to discuss the steppe impact along the Lower Danube, including the custom of cranial modification, beyond the Yamnaya migration of the 3rd millennium BC, a period intensively researched in the past decade, extending to the 2nd millennium BC, a period currently understudied.Peer reviewe

THE SARMATIAN DISCOVERIES FROM RIPICENI – LA STÂNCĂ (BOTOȘANI COUNTY/RO): TWO GRAVES AND MANY QUESTIONS

The present paper aims to analyse two graves and other stray finds dated to the Roman period and discovered in 1979 and 1983 in the site of Ripiceni – La Stâncă (Botoșani County/RO). Grave 1 belongs to an adult female (around 55-60 years old) with the skull intentionally deformed in the first years after her birth.  The calvaria of the deceased no. 2 (a child around 2-3 years old) had also traces of artificial deformation. The morphology of both skeletons and the funerary inventory (beads, astragals, ceramics, etc.) can be associated with the Sarmatian culture. Based on analogies one can date the two graves from Ripiceni – La Sâncă during the second half of the 2nd century – 3rd century AD. Probably this features are only a small part of a bigger cemetery destroyed by the animal farm complex constructed in the communist era.</p

Anthropological Analysis of the Skeletal Series exhumed from the Necropolis of Piatra Neamţ – Dărmăneşti (XIVth – XVth Centuries)

This article represents a bioanthropological study of a small osteological series (32 skeletons) discovered in 2012 in the necropolis of Piatra Neamţ – Dărmăneşti. According to the authors of diggings (Garvan Daniel, archaeologist, and his collaborators at Piatra Neamţ Museum of History and Archaeology) the necropolis is dated between the XIVth and XVth centuries. The general and child mortality rates were analyzed, by gender and age, as well as the average lifespan by calculating the average age at death. We noticed a high mortality rate in childhood stage (0–14 years: 43.75%). If we add to it the teenage mortality rate (14-20 years: 6.25%), we can see that half of the studied population died before reaching adulthood. In the 20-x years interval, the highest mortality rate was recorded for mature people (30–60 years – 25%); the incidence of death among adults (20–30 years) and subjects over 60 years is much lower (15.63% and 9.38%, respectively). The average lifespan for the entire population under study (0–x years) is 25.63 years, the value recorded by gender, being of 44.17 years in men and 40.36 years in women. Anthropological analysis indicates, on the average, a population of over-middle height in males and middle height in females, with mesocranic skulls in males and brachycranic skulls in females, orthocranic and acrocranic (in the male series), respectively chamecranic and tapeinocranic (in the female series) skullcaps. The forehead is eurimetopic (in the male series) and metriometopic (in the female series), with averagely wide (in males) and wide (in females) occipitals. The face is, on the average, leptoprosopic an leptene in males, respectively mesoprosopic and mesene in females, with hypsiconch orbits and leptorrhine nose. Mandible robustness is moderate in both genders