PALYNOLOGICAL STUDIES OF ARTIFACTS FROM CATACOMBS No. 97 AND No. 98 FROM THE DARGAVS CEMETERY: ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Даргавский могильник является одним из уникальных памятников на юге России. где сохранились немногочисленные. но информативные находки из органики. В 2019 г. в ходе раскопок Терским отрядом ИА РАН катакомб № 97 (IX в.) и 98 (втор. пол. VIII - перв. пол. IX в.) для палинологического анализа отобрано три образца: № 1 - содержимое кожаного мешочка (катакомба № 97). № 2 - бусина из помета (катакомба № 97) и № 3 - грунт из стеклянного стакана (катакомба № 98). По данным палинологического анализа установлено содержимое кожаного мешочка (мука или зерно) и стеклянного стакана (напиток. содержащий культурные злаки. или хлебное изделие. накрывающее стакан). принадлежность бусины. изготовленной из помета мелкого рогатого скота, определен сезон погребения в катакомбе № 97 (два первых летних месяца). Наличие хелицер клещей в мешочке и телиоспор головни в стакане может свидетельствовать о зараженности запасов вредителями и патогенными грибами. Результаты определения шерсти из катакомбы № 97 позволяют предположить, что на погребенной была верхняя одежда из овечьей шкуры. Изученные находки тесно связаны с дохристианскими представлениями оставившего могильник раннесредневекового населения о непосредственной связи мира мертвых с плодородием и урожаем. The Dargavs cemetery is one of the unique sites in the South of Russia that has preserved few but informative organic residue. In 2019 during the excavations of catacombs No. 97 (9 century) and No. 98 (second half of the 8 - first half of the 9 century the Terskiy team of the Institute of Archaeology, RAS, selected three samples for palynological analysis. Sample No. 1 is contents of a small leather bag (Catacomb No. 97); Sample No. 2 is a bead from animal droppings (catacomb No. 97) and Sample No. 3 - soil from a glass tumbler (catacomb No. 98). The palynological analysis established the contents of the leather bag (flour or grains) and the glass tumbler (a drink containing cultivated gramineous plants or some bread stuff placed over the glass tumbler), the origin of the bead made from droppings of goats or sheep. The season of the burial in catacomb No. 97 was determined as the first two summer months. Presence of the chelicerae of ticks in the bag and teliospores of blight in the tumbler suggests that the stored food was contaminated with pests and pathogenic fungi. The determination of wool in catacomb No. 97 suggests that the buried person wore an outer coat made from sheep skin. The examined finds are closely related with pre-Christian beliefs of the early medieval population that has left this cemetery concerning direct links between the world of the dead and fertility and harvest.

Archaeological study of the Varzuga River

The Varzuga River on the northern shore of the White Sea is an important site for the archaeology of Russian Lapland. Here the archaeological study of this region began. The work provides a historiographical overview from the first finds in the XIX century to the excavations of 2009–2013, when two objects were examined: the fortification of the beginning of the XV century and the rural cemetery of the XIV–XVIII centuries. The reconstruction of a small rural fortress was made. We managed to find the first church of the village of the end of the XIV — beginning of the XV century. Interesting information about the late medieval burial rite has been obtained. Anthropological materials speak about the Karelian basis of the medieval population of the Terek coast. According to the results of archaeological work, it is clear that in the middle of the XIV century, a large Korela settlement with a church already existed on the site of the modern village.

Significant (Z|-4|) admixture signal with a source from ancient Wusun observed in contemporary Bulgarians.

We report the presence of significant Central Asian ancestry in both contemporary Bulgarians and in early medieval population from SMC (Saltovo Mayaky Culture). The existence of Chalcolithic Iran (Hajj Fruz) and Wusun related ancestral component in contemporary Bulgarians comes as a surprise and sheds light on both migration route and ethnic origins of ProtoBulgarians. We interpret these results as an evidence for a Central Asian connection for the tribes, constituting the population of SMC and Kubrats Old Great Bulgaria in Pontic steppe from 6th and 7th century AD. We identify Central Asian Wusun tribes as carriers of this component on the base from the results from f3 and D statistics. We suggest that Wusun related tribes must have played role (or might have even been the backbone) in what became known as the Hunnic migration to Europe during 3rd 5th century AD. Same population must have taken part in the formation of the SMC (Saltovo Mayaki Culture) and Great Old Bulgarian during 6th 9th century AD in Pontic Caspian steppe. We also explore the genomic origins of Thracians and their relations to contemporary Europeans. We conclude that contemporary Bulgarians do not harbor Thracian-specific ancestry, since ancient Thracian samples share more SNPs with contemporary Greeks and even contemporary Icelanders than with contemporary Bulgarians.

FORMATION OF THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL COMPOSITION OF THE POPULATION OF UKRAINE IN COSSACK TIME. STEPPE IMPACT

The anthropological type of Ukrainians of Cossack Era was formed on the Old Rus anthropological substrate. They were mostly descendants of the inhabitants of former lands of Drevlyani, Volynyani, Tivertsy and partly Galichani. They were characterized by a combination of a broad face with a dolichocranial or mesocranial skull. People from non-Slavic groups, including ones from the steppe zone, also took part in the formation of the anthropological composition of the late medieval population of Ukraine. Mostly it was a population that was genetically related to the groups that had ancient roots in the Turkic-speaking world. It was characterized by a Zlivkin morphological complex (brachycranium, a relatively broad face that had a weakened horizontal profile at the top). The type is Caucasian, it was widespread in large areas occupied by the Saltovo-Mayatska culture. It was characteristic for the population of Khazaria, the medieval cities of Crimea, the plains of the North Caucasus, the southern Bulgarians. For the population of Volga Bulgaria, the appearance of this morphological complex is associated with the movement of the early Bulgarians genetically related to the Sarmatians. The type continued to dominate in some areas during the Golden Horde and after the Golden Horde Age. Its presence is recorded in the south of Ukraine and in Moldova. The infiltration of the descendants of this population into the Slavic environment of Ukraine took place in different ways. The source territories for it could be the Lower Dnieper and the Prut-Dniester interfluve. The time of infiltration is most likely the second half of the 13th—15th centuries. Single skulls which are characterized by a tall face with a sharp horizontal profile and can be associated with people from the North Caucasus are recorded in the late medieval cemeteries of Ukraine. Skulls with clearly defined Mongoloid features practically are not found in the late medieval Christian cemeteries of Ukraine. Groups of nomads with these features (from Cumans to Nogai Tartars) are anthropologically differ as far as possible from the population of Cossack Era Ukraine, which was buried in Christian cemeteries.

MEDIEVAL POPULATION OF POLOTSK ACCORDING TO ANTHROPOLOGICAL DATA

The aim of this study was to analyze human skeletal remains from 13th—14th centuries burials discovered on the territory of the Lower Castle in Polotsk, Belarus. The article deals with the morphological characteristics of medieval urban population and skeletal stress indicators such as mortality and cribra orbitalia. According to most craniological characteristics, a series of male skulls from Polotsk of the 13th—14th centuries is similar to a sample of the medieval rural population of Polotsk land from burial mounds of the 11th—13th centuries. The differences relate to an increase in the cranial index in the later Polotsk series, which reflects the onset of epoch-making brachycephalization. In addition, Polotsk urban population differs from the rural population in a number of features characterizing the structural features of the facial skeleton (a higher face, a larger index of facial protrusion, a smaller protrusion of the nose). These differences can be genetically determined and indicate the participation of the alien component in the formation of Polotsk medieval population. The body length of adult men from Polotsk varies within 162—175 cm and averages 169.5 cm. The body length of adult women varies within 147—159 cm and averages 156 cm. Compared to the later Polotsk population of 17th—18th centuries, the medieval urban population was taller (2.5 cm in men and 2 cm in women). The average age of adult death in the studied group was 35.1 years. The average age of death for Polotsk women was 3 years less than for men. The group of Polotsk medieval population is characterized by relatively high frequencies of cribra orbitalia. Among adults, the indicator is present in 32.2 % of cases, among children — in 55.5 % of cases. Compared with the rural population of the 11th—13th centuries urban population of Polotsk of the 13th—14th centuries had higher mortality rates and increased incidence of cribra orbitalia, which indicates deterioration in general health in Polotsk urban population. The most probable causes of this phenomenon were, on the one hand, negative factors of urbanization, and on the other hand, the cooling of the climate, which began in Europe in the 14th century and led to deterioration in the living conditions of a significant part of the region’s population.