Osteometric Study of Bakhchi-Eli – the Crimean Tatar Necropolis of the 19th–20th Centuries

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2023-4/348-357

Abstract

The osteological study of the Bakhchi-Eli necropolis in the Kirov region of the Republic of Crimea was associated with the preparation of the area for construction work. A total of 166 burials were discovered. 25 male and 24 female skeletons were studied according to standard osteometric protocol. The male sample of Crimean Tatars from Bakhchi-Eli is characterized by an average ratio of arm and leg lengths, often a slightly elongated shoulder, variability in the radiobrachial and tibiofemoral indices, and a wide variety in shoulder width, which was often correlated with body length. Most men had a wide pelvis and a significantly expanded sacrum. The group varied in body length; individuals were characterized by body lengths ranging from short to very long. The average body length of the men of the group from Bakhchi-Eli (19^th–20^th centuries) (166.4 cm) was slightly less than that of the men from the group of Crimean Tatars of the 16th-18th centuries Batalnoye (168.8 cm) and slightly larger than that of the men of the Crimean Tatar group Bieli (17^th–18^th centuries) (162.8 cm). Women from the Bakhchi-Eli group of Crimean Tatars were also characterized by an average ratio of the lengths of the upper and lower limbs, an elongated shoulder, narrow shoulders, and a greatly expanded sacrum. Pelvic width varies and is not correlated with height. The female sample was characterized by body lengths ranging from short to long. The average body length of women from Bakhchi-Eli (152.5 cm) was less than that of women from the Batalnoye necropolis (154.0 cm) and greater than that of women from the Biyeli necropolis (149.9 cm).