Examination of a Trepanned Skull from the Novyi Kumak Burial Ground (Southern Urals): New Data and Social Interpretation

Abstract

Introduction. This article examines a trepanation hole identified during the study of a collection of skulls of Early Nomads from the Southern Urals housed in the craniological repository of the Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Lomonosov Moscow State University. The skull comes from kurgan 20 of the Novyi Kumak burial ground located in the Orenburg Region. The burial dates to the 4th century BC and belongs to the Early Sarmatian period. The aim of this study is to introduce into scholarly circulation a new case of trepanation and to determine the circumstances and possible reasons for the intervention recorded on the skull of an Early Nomad.

Materials and methods. The article considers the archaeological context in which the trepanned skull was discovered at the Novyi Kumak burial ground. Sex and age were assessed on the basis of the morphological features of the skull. A description of the skull and the dentition is provided. The trepanation was described according to the method proposed by M.B. Mednikova. Differential diagnosis was based on macroscopic examination and photographic documentation.

Results and discussion. It was established that an antemortem trauma was present on the skull of a male over 55 years of age, and that a perimortem or postmortem trepanation was later performed at the site of this trauma. In the search for possible reasons for such interventions, various interpretations of trepanations recorded on the skulls of ancient populations of the Early Iron Age in Central and Middle Asia, as well as Southern and Western Siberia, were considered.

Conclusion. The burial from the Novyi Kumak burial ground may be characterized as that of representatives of the nomadic elite. The trepanation in this case appears to have been associated with postmortem manipulations carried out during the preparation of the body for burial. This practice may reflect the influence of traditions that reached the Southern Ural steppes from the east, which is also supported by archaeological data.

Acknowledgements. The authors would like to express their gratitude to the director of the Research Institute and the Museum of Anthropology of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dr. A.P. Buzhilova for the opportunity to study a series of skulls of early nomads of the Southern Urals, as well as to the fellows of the Research Institute and the Museum of Anthropology of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Ph.D. N.Ya. Berezina and Ph.D. D.V. Pezhemsky for their valuable advice and recommendations.

Research was carried out under partial support of the MSU Shared Research Equipment Center «Technologies for obtaining new nanostructured materials and their complex study», National Project «Science» and the MSU Program of Development.

Funding. The study was funded by the Russian Science Foundation Grant No. 25-28-20201, Professional specialization in the Early Iron Age nomadic societies of the Southern Urals during the 7th-3rd centuries BC, https://rscf.ru/project/25-28-20201/

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