A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 37-38. - 1995-1996 (Nyíregyháza, 1997)

Természettudomány - László Szathmáry: Regional diversity of 10th century populations from the time of the Hungarian conquest

Honfoglalás kori (X. századi) népességeink regionális diverzitása Regional diversity of lOth century populations from the time of the Hungarian conquest In the paper the diversity of 10th centuiy populations from the time of the Hungarian conquest is analysed on the basis of 12 skull dimensions of 174 male and 128 female cranial finds (Tables I and II). The examinations, which involve discriminant analyses in the spirit of beta diversity estimation, cover five geographical regions in the Carpathian Basin: 1/ north-eastern region, 2/south-eastern region, 3/MidclleDanube region, 4/Transdanubia and 5/northern periphery (Fig. 1). As the classification results show, the north-eastern region and Transdanubia represent the most expressed diversity. On the other hand, the most homogeneous populations can be reconstructed in the northern periphery and in the south-east (Table IV and V). Moreover, it is in the south-eastern region that the cranial finds dating from the preceding Late Avar period resemble the 10th century skulls most of all the four geographical regions. (Unfortunately, this similarity cannot be examined in the northern periphery for lack of enough data available.) The skull dimensions on the basis of which the populations of the different geographical regions can be separated are shown forth for both sexes (Table VI to XV). Diversity in the total sample is also evaluated from another viewpoint, i.e. in the perspective of gamma diversity. The hierarchical clustering based on the principal component analysis gives reason for the separation of five characteristic variations in both sexes (Table XVI and XVII). The territorial distribution of these five variants, similarly to the previous results, refers to such a perplexed interrelationship which nearly precludes the possibility that the groups of Árpád's people characterised by different genetic roots and different adaptation before 895 could adapt themselves to the definitely diverse and mosaic-like living structure of the Carpathian Basin in the 10th centuiy. Even if there were motivations or ambitions of this kind, they may only have prevailed by alloying or complementing the manifold adaptation profile of the local populations. What we can through this examination, sum up, as the regional characteristic features of the 10th centuiy populations, leads us to approximately similar conclusions in both ways of approach. In the south-eastern region of the Great Plain and in the northern periphery there may have lived populations characterised by a slight degree of diversity, that is, they may have been relatively homogeneous craniologically. It is obvious that the population in the south-eastern region may have been in close connection with that of the Middle Danube region although their north-eastern associations may also have been significant. However, their relationship with either Transdanubia or the northern periphery may have been negligible. The population presumed to be characteristic of the northern periphery may have been developed by background events independent of southern connections. Its craniological profile, as it can be concluded from the craniological diversity, may have developed in the way of alloying the qualities of the north-eastern and the Transdanubian groups (Table XVIII). László SZATHMÁRY Vasvári Pál Museum Tiszavasvári Pf. 56. H-4440 KLTE Department of Human Biology Debrecen Pf. 6. H-4010 A Jósa András Múzeum Évkönyve 1997 299