Anthropologiai Közlemények

The result of the examination of the Lengyel culture burials excavated at the site of Bátaszék-Kanizsai-dűlő (Tolna county, M6 TO 46)

2025-01-02T13:19:43+00:00

Between 2006 and 2009, during rescue excavations prior to the construction of the M6 motorway, a large cemetery of the late Neolithic Lengyel culture was unearthed. During simultaneous excavations by different institutions, it was revealed that the sections of the site with different names belong together. We present the results of the anthropological examination of the cemetery section excavated on the banks of the Lajvér stream in the northwestern part of Bátaszék. The demographic, morphometric and palaeopathological analyses of the 51 graves basically confirmed the results of the analysis of the 859 burials excavated in site section 10/B, which burials were analysed in the doctoral work of the Author. Here we would like to provide additional data with the results of the examination of the anthropological findings discovered in this section of this large cemetery, which was previously treated as a separate unit, in the hope that the examination results of all the graves of the site will also be published in the near future.

Biological anthropological analysis of the Iron Age osteological finds from Pilismarót-Basaharc

2025-01-02T13:19:43+00:00

Pilismarót-Basaharc is a unique Iron Age cemetery in the Danube Bend, which represents the transition between the Early and the Late Iron Age burial rite and custom. The anthropological material of the Iron Age cemetery consists of 57 inhumation and 33 cremation graves. Additionally, highly fragmented and incomplete skeletal remains from nine settlement-related pits were also uncovered. In relation to the skeletal burials, 10 males, 15 females, 5 juveniles and 28 children, from which 20 were under the age of two, were identified. As for the pit burials, except for two children, mainly adult cranial fragments and incomplete skeletons were found. Our analysis revealed that most of the assessed crania were brachycran in contrast to the dolicho- and mesocranic features noted in Transdanubia from this period. Majority of the identified pathological conditions, such as degenerative changes of the spine and the joints, as well as skeletal stress markers, commonly affected prehistoric populations. Besides, an elderly female individual exhibited hyperostosis frontalis interna (HFI) on the inner surface of the frontal bone. Traumatic lesions, like fractures were rarely observed and all of them were healed. Upon studying the cremated remains, no major difference could be established regarding the fragmentation and degree of calcination. Almost all the cremated individuals reached adulthood and were cremated shortly after death.

The analysis of birth status of children with classical growth hormone deficiency treated with growth hormone by using the Maturity–Development–Nutrition matrix method

2025-01-02T13:19:42+00:00

An essential indicator of children's health is weight gain and general growth reflecting development, making the understanding of abnormal growth and maturation patterns crucial for early intervention and long-term health outcomes. The Maturity–Development–Nutrition (MDN) matrix method enables the easy identification of intrauterine growth retardation during the newborn period, which can increase the risk of stillbirth and infant mortality.

The main purpose was to examine the birth status (length of prenatal development, body length, body weight, nutritional status) of children with classic growth hormone deficiency treated with growth hormone using the MDN matrix method.

We examined the birth status of 98 children (67 boys, 31 girls) with isolated growth hormone deficiency who were treated at the North Buda St. John’s Centre Hospital, between 1975 and 2016. We analysed birth status using data on the children’s gestational age, sex, birth length and birth weight. Centile values for birth length and weight were determined using national reference series corresponding to birth year, gestational age and sex. The MDN matrix was used to assess newborn nutritional status and intrauterine growth retardation type.

Children with growth hormone deficiency have a prenatal development length that is similar to the Hungarian reference values. However, their birth length and weight were lower than the domestic reference series. According to the MDN matrix method, their nutritional status was similar to that of children born between 2000 and 2012. However, 34.69% of the children were growth-retarded according to their birth developmental status, which was significantly higher than the frequency observed in the children included in the reference series.

The results confirm that the MDN method may be appropriate for identifying newborns who would benefit from early investigations to diagnose growth hormone deficiency.

Traces of early Hungarian markers along Irtysh river

2025-01-02T13:19:43+00:00

While most researchers put the early Hungarians into the vicinity of the Southern Urals in the few centuries before they entered written history, it is still open what was before, how this core formed, where they had come from. In this study we identify with genetic comparison a possible microregion along the Irtysh as a point of departure for at least some components of the early tribal core. We also review relevant archaeological research and show that some studies have identified essentially the same microregion.

Phylogeographic connections of dental morphological characteristics in the light of archaeogenetic data

2025-01-02T13:19:43+00:00

Among the methods belonging to the toolkit of anthropological research, dental non-metric studies investigating the morphological traits of teeth are currently one of the most common for examining the biological relationships between populations. Despite the spread of archaeogenetic analyses, a study comparing the results of genetic and dental non-metric analyses of the same individuals is unique internationally.

In order to address this hiatus, the subject of our study was the dentition of individuals from the Avar and Hungarian Conquest periods of the Carpathian Basin, for whom published whole-genome data were available. Taking advantage of this unique opportunity, the aim of the PhD thesis was to test and develop a literature-based method, and to validate this method with genetic data.

For recording the dental non-metric traits, the latest version of the widely known Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS)-based method was used with minor modifications. To examine the genetic composition of the studied individuals, we performed a supervised ADMIXTURE analysis.

Our research has validated the usefulness of dental non-metric analyses for understanding the origins of past populations using genetic data. Furthermore, we have developed a method, supported by genetic data, that can be used to provide estimates of ancestry even at the individual level. Although our study has highlighted the potential of dental non-metric studies, it has also revealed methodological problems and limitations in testing methods and hypotheses that can only be overcome by extending the study material.

The National Memorial Park of Mohács Mass Grave No. IV. excavation: Biological anthropological observations

2025-01-02T13:19:42+00:00

The excavation campaign of Mass Grave No. IV. started at the National Memorial Park of Mohács in June 2024. The well-organized, intensive archaeological and field anthropological work was carried out in cooperation between the Department of Archaeology, Janus Pannonius Museum and the Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Szeged.

The observations of the field anthropology studies were very similar to the Mass Grave No. III. excavation (carried out between 2020 and 2022): frequently fragmented and incomplete, mixed and damaged skeletal remains, predominance of young male skeletons, abundance of perimortem cut wounds observed first on skull bones and cervical vertebrae, quite frequent occurrence of skeletal infection traces.

After a period of 10 weeks, the excavation campaign was finished with the completion of the fieldwork. Immediately after that, the skeletal remains of an undetermined number of individuals (but very probably between one and two hundred) were transported to the Department of Biological Anthropology of the University of Szeged, where the washing and preliminary anthropological analysis of the skeletons was about to begin.

Bibliography of Gyula Dezső

2025-01-02T13:19:40+00:00

The compilation includes Gyula Dezső’s publications, the overviews of his publication, as well as commemorations related to his life and obituaries

Kralovánszky Alánné Éry Kinga (1932–2024)

2024-12-20T09:43:13+00:00

Nyilas Károly (1946–2024)

2024-12-20T09:43:14+00:00

News

2024-12-20T09:43:14+00:00