The Medieval cemetery from Dridu – La Metereze (Ialomița County, Romania). Bioarcheological characteristics
The Medieval cemetery from Dridu – La Metereze (Ialomița County, Romania). Bioarcheological characteristics

Summary/Abstract: The anthropological analysis of a skeletal sample (34 individuals from 29 burial graves) from the medieval cemetery at Dridu – La Metereze (12th–13th or 13th–14th centuries) determined the presence of 18 males, four females, and 12 whose sex is indeterminate (mostly children and adolescents). By age class, the highest mortality in subadults is found in children (57.1%), and in adults, in the group of young adults (50.0%). The demographic profile is comparable to the attrition mortality profile. Life expectancy at birth for the entire population is 23.67 years. The stature of the adults, despite the small sample, indicates a pronounced sexual dimorphism, the average values of males (160.3 cm) being 8.3 cm higher than those of females (152.0 cm). The high number of deaths among subadults has been attributed to diseases (dental, infectious and metabolic) that lead to a deficiency of vitamins (A, B 6, B9, B12, C, and D) and essential minerals (Fe) during the period of growth and development of the body. A series of enthesopathies, the presence of nonmetric dental and postcranial traits, as well as some traumatic manifestations, suggest that in the medieval population of Dridu we are dealing, in the case of certain individuals, with horsemen. Part of the funerary inventory also supports this statement, but we remain reserved about the Turanian origin (Pechenegs or Cumans) and the integration of these nomadic populations into the nucleus of sedentary, Christian populations (Romanians and Slavs) until we have molecular genetics results.

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