Moscow University
Anthropology
Bulletin

Craniological characteristic of some population groups of Roman city Viminacium (preliminary report)

Konopelkin D.S. (1), Goncharova N.N. (1), Mikic I.Z. (2)

1) Lomonosov Moscow State University, Department of Anthropology, Moscow, Russia; 2) Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade, Serbia

Abstract

The article is devoted to the description and analysis of the craniological data from the population that has used the late Antique necropolis on territory of Roman city and legionary fort of Viminacium in Eastern Serbia. The material for the study consisted of 61 skulls from the craniological collection of the Viminacium museum. These skulls are well preserved. Less than 10% of the collection had to be reconstructed. The authors used the classical craniological set of 35 measurements. In addition to the original dimensions, some indexes were calculated. To assess the dimensions of the studied group from Eastern necropolis as a comparative material, the authors used two craniological collections of the Viminacium, obtained during the excavations of the synchronous population in the settlement territory. All types of statistical analysis showed that the group of Gepids differs in total dimensions of the skull and face from the groups from Eastern (Pirivoj) and Southern (Pecine) cemeteries. In turn, these two groups also differ from each other, but noticeably less than from the group of Gepids. This research provides clear evidence on the heterogeneity of the population of Viminacium and defines multiple components among its inhabitants. Significant difference has been established for several important population-specific characteristics of the sample, from both Eastern and Southern necropolis. However, the number of these characteristics was small. It should be specially emphasized that the regularities revealed for the male groups are repeated in those of female groups, despite the smaller number of females. This conclusion seems to be non-trivial, since in many works devoted to the analysis of the urban population it is said that the patterns that affect the composition of the characteristics of the male and female populations are different.

Keywords

anthropology, Viminacium, craniology, anthropological type, late antiquity, urban population, Roman province

Цит.: Konopelkin D.S., Goncharova N.N., Mikic I.Z. Craniological characteristic of some population groups of Roman city Viminacium (preliminary report) // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2017; 2/2017; с. 77-83

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