Pathological Changes on Skeletons from the Bronze Age Neplyuevsky Cemetery (Kurgan 1)

Abstract

Introduction. Currently, the picture characterizing the health status of the population, inhabiting the Southern Urals during the Bronze Age, is fragmentary due to the unsystematic nature of paleopathological studies and the often small sizes or poor preservation of the analyzed skeletal samples. This paper contributes new data to the overall discussion of the topic by presenting the results of a paleopathological study of materials from the Neplyuevsky kurgan cemetery, kurgan 1, located in the southern Chelyabinsk region and excavated between 2016 and 2017. The sample includes the remains of 14 adults (aged 18 and older) and 23 subadults (<18 years old). Methods. The skeletons were assessed for macroscopically detectable pathologies and markers of physiological stress. Pathological lesions were scored base on the recommendations given in specialized literature. Analysis. Cribra orbitalia, dental enamel hypoplasia and various traumatic injuries were common in the sample. As in other Srubnaya and Srubnaya-Alakul series of the region, the skeletons from kurgan 1 show no changes consistent with specific infections, though incidences of nonspecific infections are not excluded. Results. In general, the sample from kurgan 1 of the Neplyuevsky kurgan cemetery demonstrates similarity with materials from other synchronous sites of the Southern Urals and the Samara valley region. A distinguishing feature of the Neplyuevsky series is the relatively high frequency of bone fractures and their predominance in women.

Keywords

• srubnaya-alakul cultural type
• southern trans-ural
• markers of physiological stress
• traumatic injuries
• signs of inflammation
• developmental anomalies