Inhabitants of the southern suburb of the early medieval stronghold at Pohansko : updated demographic study

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Authors

BOBEROVÁ Kateřina

Year of publication 2019
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Anthropologie : International Journal of Human Diversity and Evolution
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
Web http://dx.doi.org/10.26720/anthro.19.04.17.1
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.26720/anthro.19.04.17.1
Keywords Pohansko; Southern suburb; Early Medieval; Demography; Mortality; aDNA
Description The southern suburb counts among the largest locations excavated at Pohansko where about two hundred graves were explored. It is dated to the 9th century with a possible overlap to the beginning of the 10th century. Skeletal material (in present times 190 skeletons from 205 graves are preserved) was mainly excavated during archaeological rescue excavations in 1975–1979. The skeletal remains from the southern suburb are poorly preserved, the bones are fragmentary and in most cases unidentifiable. Using the traditional anthropological methods of sex estimation, 40 adult females and 27 adult males were identified. Later, modern genetic methods of sex determination were used. The analysis of aDNA of skeletal remains was especially significant when the sex of children was determined. Using these two approaches, 30 adult males, 55 adult females, 28 boys and 20 girls were identified. The sex of the remaining 57 skeletons (both children and adults) was impossible to define by any of the methods used. The results provide new information about the demography of this burial site and they have been compared with demographic data of other equally dated burial sites.
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