Morphological and Biometrical Examination of Some Skulls from the Sardis Excavations

Year 1967, Volume: 31 Issue: 121, 1 - 48, 20.01.1967

Enver Bostancı

Abstract

The Sardis excavations are organised by an American Expedition under the direction of Professor Dr. G. M. A. Hanfmann who has regularly sent the human bones found to the Division of Palaeoanthropology. As Consultant Palaeoanthropologist to the Expedition, I am undertaking the cleaning and repair of the bones and an examination of them is proceeding according to their importance. A report has been published giving an account of the examination of the parts on which it has been possible to take measurements. The skeletons were obtained in the course of excavationxs undertaken in the years 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961. Among these skeletons were nine skulls. Some results were obtained regarding the metric and morphological characters of these skulls which show that the majority of the people who lived at Sardis were of the Mediterraenan type. Although it can be seen that most of these groups are dolichocranic and mesocranic, brachycranic types can be observed particularly in the Byzantine period. The long and narrow skulls seen in the people of ancient Anatolia can also be found among the Sardis population. It can be understood from an examination of the long bones that the Sardis people were of medium height.

Keywords

Sardis Excavations, Western Anatolia, Palaeoanthropology, Archaeology, Morphology, Biometric