Anthropologiai Közlemények

Kelta temetkezések embertani vizsgálata Vác-Kavicsbánya lelőhelyről

Kitti Köhler — 2023-12-19

In this paper the results of the physical anthropological analysis of 18 (12 inhumated, 6 cremated) Celtic graves – excavated from the site of Vác-Kavicsbánya – are presented. Among them 8 males, 7 females and 4 individuals of indeterminable sex (one of them is a child) could be distinguished. Due to the low number of the examinable graves the detailed paleodemographic analysis couldn’t be compiled. The morphometric analysis could be performed only in the case of 2 females, who showed the presence of the brachycranic individuals in the series. This anthropological component can be linked to the immigrant Celts. The pathological investigation based on macromorphological investigation, showed the occurrence of common diseases, which were characteristic in the prehistoric times (like poroticus hyperostosis or fracture). The examination of cremated graves showed that the amount/weight of the ashes was low, which could be caused by several factors (for example by selective collection of ashes from the pyre). Beside it, the colour of the ashes was mainly yellowish white, which suggests that the cremation proses were at a low temperature.

Oral paleopathological investigation of the Avar period (6–7th c. CE) population from Nagykőrös

Xiomara Quiroz-Cabascango — 2023-12-19

The main goal of the research is to widen our knowledge about oral health during the Early Avar Period (6–7th c. CE). We used the individual and tooth count method to record abrasion, caries, antemortem tooth loss, periapical lesions, linear enamel hypoplasia, calculus and dental trauma of 26 individuals from the Nagykőrös-Kovács tanya site (9 males, 6 females, 11 subadults). The examination of the remains showed the noteworthy presence of dental abrasion and calculus among subadults, which increased with age. Only the tooth count analysis revealed a significant difference between the adults, as females had more teeth with caries and hypoplasia, while for calculus males had increased intensity in their dentition. The comparison with Late Avar Period skeletal assemblages from other geographic regions indicated possible spatial or temporal trends of oral health.

14–21 éves sportolók klasszikus antropometriai és modern műszeres technikákkal becsült testzsírszázalékának összehasonlító elemzése

Fanny Zselyke Rátz-Sulyok — 2023-12-19

Currently, one of the most accurate measurements of body composition components, including the fat content of the body is based on the method of dual X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). The application of the DEXA method in clinical setting is usually limited to the assessment of bone health status due to the device’s cost and immobile nature, therefore in sport diagnostics the body composition estimation is usually carried out with other methods, such as bioimpedance analysis or anthropometrical methods based on the measurement of body dimensions, which ensure a rapid, accurate and frequently repeatable way of examination.

For our research goal we choose the comparison of the most frequently used body fat percentage estimation methods. The accuracy of the other methods in the light of the DEXA estimations is presented. Sport Sciences and Diagnostic Research Centre of the Hungarian Handball Federation coordinated the assessment of 171 young elite handball players (14–21-year-olds), whose body composition estimations were performed in the spring and summer of 2023.

The preliminary analysis of body fat percentage estimates in handball players carried out with different methods showed that the rapid and cost-efficient estimations based on anthropometric skinfold measurements can substitute the body fat percentage estimation method based on the clinically acclaimed golden standard dual X-ray absorptiometry technology. Body fat percentage estimation via InBody 770 device showed significantly lower values compared to the DEXA method, however this difference was consistent, therefore body composition assessment via InBody device can serve as an alternative of monitoring personal progress and status. We also carried out examinations with a novel ultrasound technology aided by BodyMetrix device, its subcutaneous fat thickness measurement estimated accurately the skinfold thicknesses on human body, its body fat percentage estimation based the skinfold thicknesses was adequately accurate compared to the DEXA method.

With the aid of available DEXA measurement results and with the aim of creating an alternative method with low instrument requirement for body fat percentage estimation, which can be used with the highest accuracy particularly considering the body composition of young elite athletes, we created a modified sport-specific body fat percentage estimation equation. Our new estimation method was based on classical anthropometric skinfold measurements, and it accurately correlated with the DEXA body fat% estimates in case of young elite handball players.

A magyarországi 10–11. századi sebészi trepanációk összehasonlító vizsgálata a validált oszteoarcheológiai adatok tükrében

Kitty Király — 2023-12-19

Trepanations are divided into three groups in the Eastern European osteological practice: surgical, cultical and symbolic trepanations. Classical surgical interventions are conducted on living subjects, and all three layers of the cranial vault are removed.

My examinations were conducted in skeletal series with skulls bearing surgical trepanations that derive from the Conquest Period and the early Árpádian Age (9–11th c. CE). I examined all cases applying a unified protocol for comparability, and I also made efforts to verify the dating and the trepanation diagnosis of each possible case. This type of work creating a cadastre of 10–11th century trepanations is unprecedented in the Hungarian osteological practice. In 51 cases, the earlier diagnosis of trepanation was verified. I examined all the available remains of each affected individuals, and also investigated 5 more individuals of the same sex and similar age-at-death in each series for comparison. Instead of the usual nosology-based palaeopathological diagnostical process, I observed types of lesion in the endocranial and ectocranial surfaces, and made statistical comparison between the trepanned and non-trepanned samples. The work hypothesis was that trepanations were conducted for real therapeutic reasons. If pathological features are more frequent among individuals with trepanations than their peers, it indirectly implies that trepanation might have been applied as a therapeutic measure in most cases and was not a ritual intervention as often hypothesized elsewhere.

Beside the comparative work, we also put forward a change in nomenclature; we wish to introduce the word ‘cranioglyph’ instead of ‘symbolic trepanation’, since the latter tends to be confused with other interventions in the Western practice.

In the future, we wish to carry on the comparative approach to postcranial elements and activity-related changes to further elucidate the indication of these ancient surgical techniques.

A kétoldali aszimmetria fejlődésének vizsgálata történeti embertani anyagon

Ágnes Fogl — 2023-12-19

In my dissertation I examined the development of the bilateral asymmetry of the upper and lower limb long bones in nonadult skeletal remains from the Bátmonostor-Pusztafalu site which has been dated to the 14-16th century AD.

Examining the averages of the long bone measurements of the upper extremity, the growth of the nonadult skeletons from this site was approximately the same as the sample chosen as a standard, thus they proved to be suitable for the purpose of investigating bilateral asymmetry.

In the case of the upper limb, bilateral asymmetry was not present at birth. In older age groups, however, it developed gradually. Based on the time of appearance of bilateral asymmetry, the development of its direction and the change in its magnitude with age I drew conclusions about the lifestyle of the examined children and their relationship with their environment. They probably already participated in farming and handicraft work at the age of 7-8, and the physical activities performed during this influenced the long bones of their upper limbs through the loading of the dominant arm, which was manifested in directional asymmetry shifting to the right.

The directional asymmetry of the femur showed a shift to the right side with age, and then to the left side in older age groups; thus crossed symmetry pattern could be observed. In the case of the tibia, I obtained partially opposite results to the femur. Shifting to the right in asymmetry was more common, but as age progressed, the differences between the right and left sides levelled off, just like in the case of the femur. As bipedal walking exerts an equal mechanical effect on the lower limb on both sides, asymmetry is less pronounced in the period of postnatal life from birth to adolescence.

The bioarchaeological study of limb bone bilateral asymmetry of nonadult skeletons gave me the opportunity to contribute to the biological reconstruction of the findings from the Bátmonostor-Pusztafalu cemetery.

Ki kicsoda a magyar fogászati paleopatológiában

Gábor Kocsis-Savanya — 2023-12-19

We collected the dead Hungarian researchers in dental paleopathology. We present the career, the activity, especially the dental-palaeopathological researches of scientists in alphabetical order. Their communications appear in the References section.

A biológiai antropológia kapcsolata a Magyar Tudományos Akadémiával

Gyula L. Farkas — 2023-12-19

The Author describes the relationship between the Biological Department of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Anthropological Committee of the Academy between 1956 and 2022; lists the members of the Anthropological Committee by name; and finally, introduces the program sessions between 1988 and 2022.

Dezső Gyula (1931–2023)

Gyula L. Farkas — 2023-12-20

Gyenis Gyula (1940–2023)

Tamás Hajdu — 2023-12-20

Kustár Ágnes (1966–2023)

Ildikó Pap — 2023-12-20

Vámos Károly (1941–2023)

Gyula L. Farkas — 2023-12-20

Búcsúzás két jó baráttól

Gyula L. Farkas — 2023-12-20

Hírek

Zsolt Bereczki — 2023-12-20