Anthropological Analyses of Hagios Aberkios Church Skeletal Population

Abstract

Hagios Aberkios skeletal population which is dating Late Byzantine period, has been examined morphologically. The population which consists of at least 27 individuals is wholly adult, majority of which is male. Anthropometrical results led us to conclude that, Hagios Aberkios skeletal population's cranial structure was mesocrane, metriocrane, hypsicrane, mesene, mesorrhine, metriometopia and brachystaphiline. The distributions of the cranial indices point to the presence of a heterogeneous genetical structure. In other word, the population consists of robust and gracile Mediterraneans, Alpine and Dinaric races. The most frequently encountered racial group is that of the robust Mediterraneans. The morphological comparison of Hagios Aberkios population with other ancient Anatolian populations, display their similarity with Topaklı, Klazomenai, Boğazköy, Panaztepe and İznik populations. The stature of the Anatolian skeletal populations display a positive secular trend from Neolithic onwards. Moreover, it has been established that the difference in stature between the males and the females is increasing. Thus, it has been concluded that the males are more open to the influences induced by the changes in the environmental conditions, especially those in the nutritional patterns.