Fathoming why most inhabitants of ancient settlement died before 18
CHELYABINSK, Russia: Why did most inhabitants of an ancient settlement all died before the age of 18?
To find the answer, archaeologists are examining a big amount of DNA material that has been collected.
An international team, consisting of researchers from South Ural State University and the University of Pittsburgh (US), are studying remnants discovered in the Kamenny Ambar-5 burial ground.
Physical anthropologists carried out a thorough research with the goal to determine each individual’s age and race, as well as whether he or she had any diseases or injuries.
“One of the mysteries of this burial ground is the fact that there are no adult people older than 50, and about 70 per cent of the buried are children of various age. At that, they had been buried with the full cycle of rituals, including funerary equipment and sacrifice of livestock, sheep. Adults were mainly buried with cows, horses and dogs.”
DNA will talk about ancient inhabitants of the Southern Urals
The researchers managed to collect a big amount of DNA material. Mapping of the genome allowed determining gender of the children. Geneticists verified archaeologists’ theory that girls were buried with ornaments, and boys – with labour tools. Research of remnants of the Kamenny Ambar residents showed that socialisation and separate formation of gender stereotypes was beginning at the age of two or three.
“The remnants were also studies for the presence of any diseases, but no traces of epidemics or dangerous illnesses have been detected. Though such small number of people who lived up to their biological maturity indicates that the environment was not favourable, and life of these people was short and lasted 50 years in average,” says the SUSU scientist. A large cache of military equipment was found on the excavation site: a spear and fragments of chariots. But a thorough research showed that these items were not used in combat. According to one of versions, this was a group of migrants who came to the territory of the contemporary Southern Urals.
On the progress of their findings, researcher Andrey Vladimirovich said: “Reconstructions of skulls were carried out, and now we can visually demonstrate the look of the population which remnants were found in the Kamenny Ambar burial ground. They were southern representatives of European ethnicity with a well-shaped facial skeleton and protruding nose. Compared to the local inhabitants, they were more subtle. This also proves that they were migrants: their ancestors were representatives of European ethnicity as well, but of different type.”