scholarly journals On the Anthropology of the Population of the Eneolithic – Early Bronze Age (on Materials of Burial Grounds of the Volgograd Region)

2016 ◽  
pp. 72-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariya Balabanova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Volgograd Region ◽  
Burial Grounds

scholarly journals BIOARCHAEOLOGY OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS OF THE EARLY BRONZE AGE ON THE BASIS OF MATERIALS FROM THE BURIAL GROUNDS OF THE VOLGOGRAD REGION

2019 ◽  
pp. 106-120
Author(s):  
E.V. Pererva ◽  
A.N. Dyachenko
Keyword(s):  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Solid Food ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Lower Volga ◽  
Burial Grounds

The paper studies the burials and anthropological materials of children (Early Bronze Age; Yamna culture), originating from the burial complexes of the Lower Volga using the method of paleopathological examination of skeletal remains and through the interpretation of the archaeological material. The skeletal remains of seven indi-viduals whose age did not exceed 15–16 years were examined. The bone material exhibited varying degrees of preservation. In 6 skeletal remains, only fragments of the cranium were examined, whereas in 5 individuals it was possible to examine the postcranial remains along with the skull bones. In this study, we applied a procedure for studying pathological abnormalities in the human skeleton developed by A.P. Buzhilova [1998]. Different me-thodological recommendations were used when recording bone porosis [Ortner, Ericksen, 1997; Ortner, Putschar, 1981; Lukacs, et al., 2001; Brown, Ortner, 2011; Maclellan, 2011]. The analysis of anthropological series helped to assess the incidence of porotic hyperostosis of eye sockets (cribra orbitalia) and cranial roof bones; to detect the signs of inflammatory processes in the bones of the postcranial skeleton in the form of periostitis, inflamma-tion on the inner surface of the bones of the cranial vault, as well as the pathological conditions of the dental sys-tem [Hegen, 1971; Stuart-Macadam, 1992; Waldron et al., 2009; Walker et al., 2009; Suby, 2014; Zuckerman et al., 2014]. The analysis of archaeological materials from children's burials of the Early Bronze Age revealed that almost all burials of children and adolescents are inlet, i.e. they do not have their individual barrows. The collec-tion of items is extremely small and is primarily represented by ceramics of very poor quality. A low proportion of children's burials attributed to the Yamna culture is observed in the Lower Volga burial grounds. As a rule, chil-dren are buried together with adults, so separate burials are very rare. Two of the seven studied individuals were 4 to 7 years old, while the remaining five individuals were buried at the age of 8–16. The reason for the small number of children's burials of the Yamna culture is associated with the low social status of the immature part of the population, which, in turn, may suggest some special, poorly fixed archaeologically, burial ritual for the bulk of children, given that subsequently the number of children's individual burials increased quite significantly on the same territory. Nevertheless, their design and accompanying items are not much different from those of adult burials. Young individuals of the Early Bronze Age are characterised by markers of episodic stress that occurred during various periods of childhood, predominantly from 2 to 4 years old. The stress can be associated with the transition from the dairy diet to the solid food diet. The widespread occurrence of tartar in immature individuals can indicate the specificity of their diet, which was based on soft and, possibly, fatty food. In addition, it may indi-cate a lack of oral hygiene, which is quite natural for the historical period. Vitamin deficiency recorded in the stu-died group results either from exposure to negative factors during the late transition from breastfeeding to solid food or from chronic hunger. Young people of the Early Bronze Age had non-specific inflammations, which, most likely, were not systematic, but occurred sporadically. We can presume that children and adolescents of the stu-died age lived peacefully and participated in the economic activities of the social groups. Being exposed to epi-sodic stresses, immature individuals of the pit culture successfully adapted to environmental factors.

scholarly journals Paleoanthropological study of a skull from a burial at the Chemurchek sanctuary Hulagash (Bayan-Ulgii aimag, Mongolia)

2020 ◽  
pp. 78-95
Author(s):  
A.A. Kovalev ◽  
K.N. Solodovnikov ◽  
Ch. Munkhbayar ◽  
M. Erdene ◽  
A.I. Nechvaloda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Altai Mountains ◽  
Intergroup Comparison ◽  
South Siberia ◽  
Cultural Affinity ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Ritual Site ◽  
Burial Grounds

Recent studies show that, in the 3rd millennium BC, the highlands in the basin of the upper reaches of the Khovd (Kobdo) River constituted a ritual zone, which was of particular importance for the population inhabiting the western foothills of the Mongolian Altai Mountains. Its cultural singularity was due to the so-called Chemurchek cultural phenomenon — a set of characteristics of West European origin, which appeared there no later than 2700–2600 BC. Three large-scale ritual complexes-‘shrines’ attributed to this period were discovered in the area of Lake Dayan Nuur. Excavations conducted by the expedition of A.A. Kovalev and Ch. Munkhbayar revealed that these structures constituted fences consisting of vertical stone slabs, decorated all-over on the outside with the images of fantastic anthropomorphic creatures and animals. The excavation of Hulagash 1 (one of these sanctu-aries), radiocarbon dated to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, revealed a single grave in the centre of the structure, synchronous with the time when the complex was used. The grave belonged to a man of advanced age, whose body was wrapped in a wide piece of cloth. The significance of this man being buried in the centre of the ritual site remains unclear. This person could have been sacrificed during construction or, conversely, he could have had a special status. Craniometrical measurement and dentological investigation of the scull from the Chemurchek sanctuary Hulagash were conducted; its graphic reconstruction was performed. Its anthropological type shows a significant Mongoloid component. Intergroup comparison revealed its significant morphological dif-ferences from markedly Caucasoid groups, including the Afanasievo culture of South Siberia and Central Asia. This excludes the morphogenetic continuity of the Chemurchek phenomenon from the antecedent Afanasievo popula-tion. The individual from Hulagash bears the greatest anthropological similarity to the Neolithic-Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age populations of the Circumbaikal region (Serovo and Glazkovo cultures) and the Barnaul-Biysk Ob area (Itkul and Firsovo XI burial grounds dating back to the pre-Bronze Age; Early Bronze Age burial grounds of the Elunino culture). This is obviously a manifestation of a shared anthropological substrate, since the anthropological component of the Baikal type (which the population of the Elunino culture included) was recorded in the Neolithic-Eneolithic materials from the northern foothills of the Altai Mountains. Remarkable morphological similarities between the individual from Hulagash and the bearers of the Elunino archaeological culture reinforce the assumption that there is a cultural affinity between the Chemurchek and Elunino populations of the Early Bronze Age.

scholarly journals Skupinové pohřebiště únětické kultury z Lovosic (okr. Litoměřice). K funerálním areálům starší doby bronzové v severozápadních Čechách / The Únětice Culture Group Cemetery from Lovosice (Litoměřice District). On Early Bronze Age Burial Grounds in Northwest Bohemia

2021 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 101-196
Author(s):  
Marek Půlpán ◽  
Katarína Petriščáková ◽  
Jana Kuljavceva Hlavová ◽  
Agnieszka Půlpánová-Reszczyńska ◽  
Peter Pavúk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Mature Stage ◽  
Exchange System ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
River Region ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Wooden Structures ◽  
Burial Grounds

The subject of the article is the “group” Unětice culture cemetery from the Early Bronze Age investigated in 2014 in Lovosice (Litoměřice district, northwest Bohemia). The cemetery’s dating to 2021–1751 BC corresponds to the mature stage of the Unětice culture in other parts of Bohemia (Moucha’s preclassical and classical stages). The cemetery is characterised by stone and apparently even wooden structures, multiple burials and the exclusive presence of miniature vessels. The population was composed primarily of old adults with the corresponding degenerative productive changes; only two non-adults were determined. Epigenetic marks on the skeletons testifying to a certain degree of kinship between the buried individuals were documented at the group cemetery and outside of it. New excavations have provided more detailed information on the spatial structure of burial grounds which, in addition to large cemeteries (of the Liběšovice, Březno near Louny, and Velke Žernoseky type), are composed of cemeteries with 10–20 graves, small groups of graves and solitary graves. These are also frequently accompanied by contemporary settlements located either close to the cemeteries or, as in the case of Lovosice, in the middle of the burial grounds. The spatial distribution of exogenous artefacts (amber beads, gold ornaments, silicite daggers) points to the possibility of the existence of an established network of long-distance routes in northwest Bohemia in the Early Bronze Age. One of the possible nodal points connected to the long-distance exchange system could have been located in the lower Ohře River region. This is documented, among other things, by the concentration of burial grounds with exceptional finds, settlements with evidence of metallurgy and the largest Bohemian hoards of ingots concentrated in the geographically defined microregion of Lovosice.

scholarly journals Anthropological aspect of the artificial skull deformation custom among the Middle Bronze Age population of the Lower Volga region

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 219-227
Author(s):  
Mariya Afanasievna Balabanova
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Volga Region ◽  
Lower Volga Region ◽  
Cultural Centers ◽  
Lower Volga ◽  
Volgograd Region ◽  
Western Asia ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Burial Grounds ◽  
Skull Deformation

This paper reviews an anthropological aspect of the artificial skull deformation which was practiced by the tribes of catacomb cultural-historical community of the Middle Bronze Age of the Lower Volga region and adjacent territories. Craniological series, numbering 207 skulls, was checked for the presence of deformation traces. 81 skulls had the traces of deformation, which is 35,2% of the total number. On average, the percentage of deformed skulls in some burial grounds of the catacomb culture of the Volgograd Region is about 17,0%, but there are a few burial grounds in craniological series where deformed skulls are absent. The type of deformation is identified as annular and frontal-occipital. The analysis of anthropological works of Russian and foreign authors as well as written sources allows to agree with the idea of A.V. Shevchenko that the custom of the skull deformation among the tribes of catacomb cultural-historical community penetrated through the cultural centers of Western Asia. The comparison of deformed and unstrained series of skulls showed that only signs of the cerebral box undergo a change under the influence of the deforming structure in most cases. The deforming effect of the structure on facial features is very weak. When the process of pressure is completed, the skull acquires a tower shape or a shape of a high cone.

Two Early Helladic II terracotta rollers from Asine and their glyptic context

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 81-96
Author(s):  
Michael Lindblom ◽  
Gullög Nordquist ◽  
Hans Mommsen
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Chemical Characterization ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
The Third ◽  
Archaeological Perspective

Two Early Helladic II terracotta rollers from the Third Terrace at Asine are presented. The objects, used to impress relief decoration on pithoi and hearths, are unique in that no other examples are known from the Early Bronze Age Aegean. Their origin is discussed based on chemical characterization and their depositional contexts are reviewed from an archaeological perspective. Although there are no known impressions from these rollers on pithoi and hearths at Asine, it is shown that their owners surrounded themselves with different objects featuring similar glyptic impressions. Two such impressions find identical parallels at Tiryns and the combined evidence strongly suggest that Asine was the home for one or several potters who produced Early Helladic impressed hearths and pithoi.

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