Dr. T. Tóth szerk.: Studia historico-anthropologica (Anthropologia Hungarica 21. Budapest, 1990)

TAXONOMICAL SKETCH The specific combination of features made the taxonomical grouping of the population possible only in a broader sense. 75% of the examined individuals belong to the dolicho-mesocran Europoid group, characterized mostly by low (chamaecran) crania, low and broad faces, protruding noses, angular orbits, and relatively gracile jaws (Table 10). Their stature ranged from short to tall (Plate 1: male, Grave N° 51; Plate 2: male, Grave N° 78; Plate 5: female, Graves N° 129; Plate 6: female, Grave N° 46/a). There is a smaller group of Europoid brachycran individuals (Rate 3: male, Grave N° 37; Rate 7: female, Grave N° 86). There are also two protomorphic persons with slight Andronovo features among the males (Plate 4: male, Grave N° 44). Mongoloid features could be noted only on three females and one child. (Plate 8: female, Grave N° 134). PATHOLOGY Macroscopically observable pathological changes are rare and they are not really severe. Fractures were found on two males (one on a rib, the other one on the collar-bone) and on two females (one on the ulna, and another on a rib). Contused skull wounds could be detected on two males, 6 females and one infant. Articular deformations (spondylosis, arthrosis deformans) were present on two thirds of the males and on nearly half of the females in slight or moderate forms. Deformation of the hip joint (luxatio coxae congenita) was present on three females. Premature ossification of the sagittal suture could be detected on two infants and on two males. The right side sutura squamosa of a woman totally disappeared in the parietal bone as if no independent temporal bone would have existed. Osteoporosis of both parietal bones of one child and cribra orbitalia of one 4-year-old child indicate blood disorders. Renal calculus was found among the bones of a juvenile woman, it is 38 x 38 mm large, its surface is rough. Caries could be seen on the teeth of 1.1% of males (5/441), and of 5.9% (30/514) of females. There was no caries on deciduous teeth. The frequency of tooth loss during the lifetime was 10.1% with males (79/715) and 15.6% (158/1012) with females. Abscessus could be observed on the maxilla or the mandible of 5 males and 9 females. ANALOGIES OF THE POPULATION The origin of the cranial form of the Backo Petrovo Selo population could be detected with the help of PENROSE distance analysis (1954). The analysis was made only on males. However, it is valid for the entire population, since the features of males and females do not differ essentially. 85 series were treated in the comparative analysis based on ten measurements of the skull. The Avar period (6th to 8th centuries) was represented by 30 samples, the Merovingian period (5th to the 8th centuries) by 8 samples, the Frankish-Slavic period (9th century) by 7 samples, ad the population from the territory of the USSR (7th century B.C. to the 10th century A.D.) by 40 samples (Table 11). By the results of the analyses the Backo Petrovo Selo population is totally different fromjhe Avar population of the Carpathian Basin known until now, regarding the 1% significance limit (Cp^ < 0.198), and bears resemblance to only two of the 85 series. These two series represent the Sauromatian - Sarmatian period (700 B.C. to 200 AD.) and culture in archaeological sense, the population of West Kazakhstan and partly that of the area between the Lower Volga and the South Ural (Table 12). Accordingly it seems to be justified, that the Backo Petrovo Selo population appearing in the southern part of the Great Plain of the Carpathian Basin in the last third of the 6th century and displayed the culture of the early Avars, came from the above defined territory. In this respect the anthropological analysis of the Backo Petrovo Selo population yielded valuable information on population history, as well.