Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 82. (Budapest 1990)

Fóthi, E. ; Pap, I.: Changes of way of life during the 6-12th centuries in the territory of Hungary

Szabolcs Tiszafüred Fészeklak Tiszalök Toponár Környe Tiszavasvári Homokmégy üllő I üllő II Alattyán-Tulát Fig. 4. Grouping of samples analyzed (C-transformation, Euclidean distance, furthest neighbour cluster method) DISCUSSION For lack of comparable anthropological analysis of European history we utilized models worked out for other continents to the extent they could conform with the specific conditions of the Eurasian Great Migration Period. COHEN (1984), GOODMAN et al. (1984) produced a viable model for identifying and evaluating the effects of multiple stress made up by the whole range of diseases and nutritional standards. GOODMAN et al. (1984), LARSEN (1984) and UBELAKER (1984) presented studies of the health effects of economic and cultural change for American prehistoric populations. SCHEPARTZ (1987) went a brave step further and she worked out a model for the transition from hunting-gathering to pastoralism and/or agriculture in Africa. We examined oral pathological conditions which are most sensitive to environmental stress. As far as diet of our period is concerned, it meant a constant increase of vegetable food and a relatively decrease of full value, animal protein consumption (HARTYÁNYI et al. 1968, BÖKÖNYI 1974). The results of dental pathological examinations made it evident that populations freshly settled in the Carpathian Basin (Tiszavasvári and Tiszafüred) had a more favourable dental pathological status than the populations living there for a considerable period. The population of Tiszavasvári had the lowest number of caries, pre-mortem tooth loss and abscessus. An early Avar arist.ocratic group and its armed entourage was buried in this cemetery (BONA 19B4). The biological conditions of the new arrivals reflected the previous way of life of these populations. We had the opportunity to compare the teeth of two cemeteries of very different social strata from the same Transdanubian location, Zalavár from the 9-llth century (FRAYER 1984). The upper class group of this location had the same low level of oral pathological cases as the Avar aristocrats of Tiszavasvári had four centuries earlier. The lower class group of Zalavár had far the worst dental health from all our groups (Fig. 1). In postcranial analyses the population of Tiszavasvári proved to have the shortest stature though they had the widest long bones and they also had the greatest body weight and robustness indices. Their bones were generally heavy and compact with a thick compact substance. The tenth century Conquering Hungarian population of Tiszafüred bore evidence of the same phenomena three centuries later.