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Facial skeleton morphology: does it reflect social stratification in an Early Mediaeval population from Great Moravia (ninth–tenth century AD, Czech Republic)?

Facial skeleton morphology: does it reflect social stratification in an Early Mediaeval... This study examines the relationship between facial morphology and socioeconomic status within an Early Mediaeval population from the Mikulčice settlement. The agglomeration was the centre of the Great Moravian Empire in Central Europe and had a hierarchically structured society. The settlement can be divided on the basis of two criteria that possibly reflect socioeconomic classes: grave location (castle and sub-castle area) and grave goods (individuals with or without luxury grave goods). As study material, we utilized CT images of adult skulls. We divided the facial skeleton into two morphological regions: the upper face (49 males and 45 females) and the mandible (47 males and 41 females), which were investigated by landmark-based methods of geometric morphometrics. The results suggest that the population was highly stratified and that both of the criteria could reflect different genetic backgrounds, lifestyles or environmental conditions. Significant differences in upper face morphology were found between individuals with or without luxury grave goods, and significant differences in mandibular morphology between individuals buried in the castle and sub-castle areas. Although the morphology of the facial skeleton has a multi-etiological nature and all its parts are influenced by a complex of internal and external factors, upper face morphology based on grave goods may be more influenced by genetic variability between the study groups in the context of patrilocality and patrilineality, which were conventional practices in Early Mediaeval societies. On the other hand, mandibular morphology may be more influenced by external conditions (probably by a different diet). http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences Springer Journals

Facial skeleton morphology: does it reflect social stratification in an Early Mediaeval population from Great Moravia (ninth–tenth century AD, Czech Republic)?

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References (140)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature 2021
ISSN
1866-9557
eISSN
1866-9565
DOI
10.1007/s12520-021-01298-0
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between facial morphology and socioeconomic status within an Early Mediaeval population from the Mikulčice settlement. The agglomeration was the centre of the Great Moravian Empire in Central Europe and had a hierarchically structured society. The settlement can be divided on the basis of two criteria that possibly reflect socioeconomic classes: grave location (castle and sub-castle area) and grave goods (individuals with or without luxury grave goods). As study material, we utilized CT images of adult skulls. We divided the facial skeleton into two morphological regions: the upper face (49 males and 45 females) and the mandible (47 males and 41 females), which were investigated by landmark-based methods of geometric morphometrics. The results suggest that the population was highly stratified and that both of the criteria could reflect different genetic backgrounds, lifestyles or environmental conditions. Significant differences in upper face morphology were found between individuals with or without luxury grave goods, and significant differences in mandibular morphology between individuals buried in the castle and sub-castle areas. Although the morphology of the facial skeleton has a multi-etiological nature and all its parts are influenced by a complex of internal and external factors, upper face morphology based on grave goods may be more influenced by genetic variability between the study groups in the context of patrilocality and patrilineality, which were conventional practices in Early Mediaeval societies. On the other hand, mandibular morphology may be more influenced by external conditions (probably by a different diet).

Journal

Archaeological and Anthropological SciencesSpringer Journals

Published: Feb 24, 2021

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