Portraits of Medieval Inhabitants of Vologda. History and Archaeology

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2023-1/340-350

Abstract

The article includes a study of three burial grounds in the city of Vologda. The first cemetery is located at Park Lane, 12. According to archaeological data, this cemetery dates from the 13th‑16th centuries. The second burial ground is represented by burials at the south wall of St. Sophia Cathedral, which date from the 14th‑16th centuries. The last cemetery is located on Burmaginykh Street, 34. This cemetery, according to archaeologists, dates to the 15th‑17th centuries. The paper provides a brief overview of the cemeteries under study based on the materials of archaeological excavations. The main part of the article focuses on an extensive historical
description of the medieval population of the city of Vologda. The key place in the work is occupied by the cranial study of the Vologda population buried in these burial grounds. Further conclusions were made based on the materials of research carried out earlier by one of the authors of this publication, as well as by anthropologists from St. Petersburg. It was concluded that while the composition of the population was changing throughout various historical periods, the craniofacial complexes of the three cemeteries remained unique and distinctive.