Anthropological study of the population of Smolensk in the 16th–17th centuries based on the materials from the excavations at Pyatnitsky district

Abstract

Introduction. The article analyzes materials dated to the 16^th–17^th centuries came from Smolensk. This period turned out to be one of the most complex and eventful in the history of the region, that's why every new detail is significant for the study. For a long time, Smolensk functioned as a boundary city and also as an important trade hub between the Muscovite Tsardom and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; so, the composition of its population may reflect the influence of the western neighbors.

Materials and methods. There were examined the craniological materials discovered during the excavations at the Pyatnitsky district of the city in 2012. The necropolis dates back to the turn of the 16^th–17^th centuries, it is located on the high bank of the Dnieper near the fortress wall of the Smolensk Kremlin. The materials include 17 male and 19 female skulls. Classical and multidimensional biometric methods were used as statistical approaches.

Results. The comparison beetween the studied sample and the other sample of the 12^th century city population known from the literature has showed their high similarity, although the later sample tends to be slenderer. Statistically significant differences were recorded only for certain parameters of the skull.

The comparison with the aggregated sample of the rural Smolensk region population dated to the 18^th–19^th centuries also revealed a significant difference for the cranial length and height and some parameters of the facial skeleton. Discriminant analysis showed a quite unique status of the studied sample, which differs from both synchronous urban groups and later samples of the rural population of the central region. There are also no processes of macrosomization observed for it.

Conclusion. The absence of significant differences for most characteristics between the studied sample and the urban population of the 12th century can indicate the continuity of the morphological type of the Smolensk urban population. On the other hand, the intermediate position of the studied sample in relation to early and late comparative materials can indicate that the studied sample represents recent settlers from the rural area.

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