Cercetări de antropologie fizică și socială în localitatea Gherăești din judeţul Neamţ
Physical and social anthropology research in the village of Gherăești in Neamţ County

Summary/Abstract: In 1994, the anthropologists from Iași initiated a comprehensive multidisciplinary investigation into the communities of predominantly Catholic denomination in Moldova, focusing on the villages of Săbăoani, Gherăești (Neamț County), Prăjești, Faraoani (Bacău County), Răchiteni, Mircești, Butea, Hălăucești (Iași County). Two main research directions were developed – 1) the study of the contemporary Catholic population and that of the period 1900-1999 and 2) the analysis of the osteological materials from the cemeteries researched in this area. In the Medieval-Modern cemetery of Gherăești (cemetery of the Orthodox Church), 64 inhumation graves were discovered, yielding 74 human skeletons. The skeletal material underwent biometric, phenotypic, palaeodemographic, palaeopathologic, and diachronic analyses. For the contemporary community from Gherăești (predominantly with Catholic denomination), several types of physical anthropology investigations were conducted, including biometric, morphological, typological/phenotypic, haematotypic, physiometric, dermatoglyphic, and demographic assessments. From the perspective of social anthropology, research in the current community of Gherăești focused on residents’ memories regarding the history of the village and the community, ethnic self-definition, inter-ethnic and inter-confessional relations, local traditions and specifics, the role of the church and other institutions within the community, preservation of local identity, and community visions for the future. The contemporary community of Gherăești, from the perspective of social anthropology presents itself as being aware and proud of its historical past and local specificity, while simultaneously maintaining an optimistic outlook regarding its future.

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