A Morphometric Study of the 11th – 18th Centuries AD Cranial Series from Russian Cities

Anthropological features of the Russian city population in the 11th – 18th centuries were studied using classical methods of craniometry as well as cranio- and osteoscopy. However, the method of geometric morphometry, which has been actively used since the 1990s and is a recent morphometric tool, has not yet been applied to Russian urban craniological series. We obtained and analyzed by the GM method three-dimensional copies of 225 skulls from thirteen series of the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period from the excavations of the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Despite the small number of studied samples from Tver and Torzhok, we were able to trace their features and originality relative to other comparable groups and among themselves. Based on historical information, these variations can be explained by political factors. The differences between the political systems of Ancient Rus’ and Russia in the Early Modern period also explain the greater morphological homogeneity of the urban population in the 15th – 18th centuries compared to the 11th –13th centuries. The study of variability in the late urban series and comparison of diachronic samples from Yaroslavl and Pereslavl-Zalessky showed morphological similarity between the inhabitants of the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, which may indicate the constancy of administrative, trade, and economic ties, as well as the significant contribution of the local rural population to the formation of the anthropological appearance of the townspeople. The revealed greater variability in the female samples compared to the male ones may indicate significant irregularities in the facial skeleton shape of women, which cannot be disclosed using classical craniology data. In general, the obtained results not only confirm many of the conclusions of previous craniological studies of the urban population from Eastern Europe but also make it possible to obtain new data on the degree of homogeneity of the townspeople’s anthropological appearance in the Middle Ages and Early Modern periods.