Paleoanthropological Analysis of Osteological Material from the Myntobe Burial Ground

Abstract

The article deals with the paleoanthropological analysis of the skeletons unearthed from the Myntobe necropolis and dated to the II – IV centuries AD. Myntobe necropolis is located 2 km south of Gani Muratbayev village in the Keles district of Turkestan province. The burial ground consists of more than 600 randomly located mounds of various sizes. All mounds have a dirt embankment. Archaeological excavations were carried out at the burial ground in 2017 and 2022, as a result of which burials in the catacombs and naus were unearthed. An analysis of the burial tradition and recovered material allows researchers to speak about the belonging of these burials to the Kangli tribes. Since the burials date back to the Kangli period, the theoretical part reveals the issues of the location and political structure of the tribes and, most importantly, the determination of the paleopathology of the Myntobints by conducting a macroscopic analysis of the discovered skeletons. The results of the analysis allowed for drawing preliminary conclusions about lifestyle, social life, and nutritional status. When writing the theoretical part of the article, electronic textbooks and resources from the book fund of the National Library of Kazakhstan and the library of the International Kazakh-Turkish University named after Kozh Ahmet Yasawi were used. In total, 9 skeletons were selected for paleoanthropological and paleopathological analysis, from mounds No. 3, No. 6, and No. 7. Paleoanthropological reasoning in the main section is written on the basis of materials in Turkish and English from the collections of Turkish libraries. The skeletons found were analyzed macroscopically and many diseases were identified, such as osteoarthritis (joint deformity), osteopathy, ankylosing spondylitis, heel spurs, thickening of the cranial bone, and deformity of the mandibular joint. Preliminary conclusions about the paleopathology of the discovered skeletons are made.

Keywords

• archaeology
• paleoanthropology
• keles
• burial ground
• burial traditions
• kangli period
• myntobe