The Paleopathological Characteristics of the Medieval Population of Bolgar (According to the CXCI Dig)

Abstract

This article presents paleopathological characteristic of skeletal remains of one of the groups of the Bolgar fortified settlement related to the Golden Horde period. The anthropological material was obtained during archaeological excavations in the north-western part of the site in 2013 (excavation CXCI). The authors have analyzed remains of 35 individuals: 16 women, 8 men and 11 children. Our work consisted of two parts: 1) osteoscopy and radiography (with parallel attempts to reconstruct mechanisms behind development of a number of trauma-driven pathologies by forensic methods); 2) osteoscopy of the dentoalveolar system to determine the following pathologies: caries, osteomyelitis of the jaw, dental calculus, parodontopathy, antemortem tooth loss, enamel hypoplasia. The authors have marked out several types of pathological changes that show living and military activity of the studied group. The data we thus obtained allow the researchers us to infer that their diet may have consisted, predominantly, of coarse, viscous food, rich in carbonhydrates, and that they were exposed to very pressing stress factors.

Keywords

• archaeology
• Middle Volga
• Bolgar fortifi ed settlement
• Golden Horde time
• anthropology
• paleopathology
• osteoscopy.