Asymmetry of Cranial Surface in Relation to Social Stratification in Great Moravia (Early Medieval Period, Mikulčice, Czech Republic, 9th–10th Century)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

According to the archaeological and written sources Great Moravian Medieval society was highly socially stratified. Recorded differences in facial cranial morpholology were partly interpreted as a result of different masticatory load, and thus of different dietary habits in various socioeconomic classes. In this study we present a detailed analysis of cranial morphology and asymmetry using exocranial surfaces in Medieval and contemporary comparative samples (cranial CT images of 200 adult individuals). The Medieval sample was grouped by the localization of the graves (castle and sub-castle) or presence of grave goods ("elite" and "non-elite" graves). The entire cranial surface was analyzed using 3D methods of geometric morphometrics and multivariate statistics. Bilateral asymmetry was visualised using colour coded maps and maps of significance. Because the Great Moravian population relied for nourishment on a hard, grittier subsistence diet, we expected (1) that both the higher and lower socioeconomic classes would exhibit higher levels of asymmetry than the comparative contemporary sample. (2) higher asymmetry of splanchnocranium than neurocranium; (3) increased animal protein intake (and so greater facial asymmetry) in higher socioeconomic classes requiring heavy masticator load. According to preliminary results these hypotheses were confirmed. Supported by the project GACR 17-01878S.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24578