Moscow University
Anthropology
Bulletin
Anthropology
Bulletin
1) Lomonosov Moscow State University, Anuchin Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Mokhovaya st., 11, Moscow, 125009, Russia; 2) M. Akmullah Bashkir State Pedagogical University, Ufa; 3) Saratov regional museum of local lore, Saratov; 4) Saratov State University, Saratov
Evteev A.A., ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6254-1203; e-mail: evteandr@gmail.com; Kufterin V.V., ORCID ID: 0000-0002-7171-8998; e-mail: vladimirkufterin@mail.ru; Kubankin D.A., e-mail: kubankin2008@yandex.ru; Chetverikov S.I., e-mail: stiv03@inbox.ru.
Boldyrevka settlement and a burial ground nearby is an archeological site in southernmost part of Saratov city dated to XIV c. AD. Archeological data suggest a certain level of prosperity of at least a part of the population which was probably mixed in terms of ethnic origin. Unusual findings of coins dated to the time of Golden Horde’s civil war (after 1360s AD) might point to a particular status of the settlement. Craniometric data display high level of intragroup variation in many measurements as well as sharp morphological differences between two sexes which could be a manifestation of their different origin. Subsequent intergroup comparison shows that the closest samples to Boldyrevka males are those of the Golden Horde time population of Bolgar city, namely Ust’-Ierusalimsky and «Kulturny Sloy», the samples of ordinary people of the city rather than its elite class. This result is important since identifying specifically Bolgar artifacts in archeological record is a complicated task. At the same time the females seem to be much closer morphologically to several Ancient Russian samples though they show similarity to some Volga Bulgaria groups, including Ust’-Ierusalimsky, as well. But the closest to them is a sample from Nizhnyaya Studenka rural necropolis from the southernmost part of present day Saratov oblast’ also dated to XIV c. AD. That sample was previously shown to be similar according to odontological data to the Northwestern Russia population, both medieval and modern. Estimated stature in the sample is fairly high for a medieval group from that region and averages 165–167 cm for males and around 155 cm for females. But despite this relatively large body size the muscle attachment sites are moderately developed in both sexes barely reaching 2 points. Life expectancy is high compared to most of Eastern European medieval groups: 42.6 years for males, 37.7 years for females and 40.3 years overall (not including child mortality). Pathological markers frequencies in the sample are broadly similar to those in most medieval groups in the region while caries lesions and antemortem tooth loss frequencies (individual count) do not fall out of its range in medieval Eastern European samples. Noteworthy the percentage of linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) is low overall though there is a pronounced sexual dimorphism: no cases of LEH were found in females while in males its frequency is substantial. On the contrary, percentage of caries lesions and antemortem tooth loss suggest a stronger nutritional stress in females of the population. Taken together, the results of bioarcheological study of the sample point to relatively good (adjusting for medieval standards) life conditions of the group.
сraniometry; bioarcheology; paleopathology; paleodemography; osteology; Golden Horde; Russia; Saratov; Volga; rural population
Цит.: Evteev A.A., Kufterin V.V., Kubankin D.A., Chetverikov S.I. A skeletal sample from Boldyrevka Golden Horde burial ground (Saratov, XIV c. AD): craniometry and bioarcheology. // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2016; 1/2016; с. 4-19
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