Late Bronze Age Population of South-western Volyn Based on Anthropological Material from Rovantsi Necropolis

Abstract

Between 1987 and 1989–1990, archaeological expedition of the Institute of Social Sciences of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, led by D. Yu. Pavliv, excavated a Late Bronze Age / Early Iron Age cemetery near Rovantsi village, not far from Lutsk.
According to Pavliv, the cemetery is attributed to a local syncretic cultural group of the Ulvivets-Rovantsi type. The cultures of the Lusatian circle and Vysotsko culture influenced this group’s material culture and the funeral rite. The site dates back to the 10th — 8th centuries BC and belongs to the category of burial grounds with a bi-ritual funeral rite. Inhumations are the predominant form of burials. The necropolis is classified as a burial ground with a bi-ritual burial rite, but inhumations predominate. The graves are individual, with the skeletons placed prone on their backs, heads facing south.
Skull measurements were taken using craniological programmes to determine the morphological characteristics of the population buried at Rovantsi cemetery and to place it among other contemporary groups of Central and Eastern Europe. Multivariate statistical methods were employed to assess the group’s origins and linkages. A total of 80 burials were unearthed on the site. The craniological series consists of 30 adult skulls (19 male and 11 female).
The skulls of the males found at the burial site are characterised by a long, narrow, and high cranium, оn average, their shape is dolichocranial. The face is classified as medium-wide and low according to the upper facial index, placing it in the mesen category with a tendency towards eurien. It is orthognathic, bordering on mesognathic. The upper horizontal profile is sharp, but with a tendency towards moderation, while the zygomaxillary level profile is sharp as well.
The orbits are classified as medium-wide and low according to the orbital index. The height of the nose is between low and medium, the width of the nose is medium, according to the nasal index the nose classified as mesorine with high nasal bridge. The angle of protrusion of the nose is average.
The female skulls are characterised by a dolichocranial shape, with a very long and moderately wide skull, which is also very high. The face has a medium width and height, falling into the mesen category according to the upper facial index. It is orthognathic with sharp horizontal profiling at both the nasomalar and zygomaxillary levels. The orbits are of medium width and low linear dimension, with a mesoconchal shape in the orbital index. According to the nasal index, the height and width of the nose are average, indicating a mesorine nose. The nasal bones protrude at the small/medium values.
The Rovantsi male and female samples exhibit distinct Caucasian features. Among the closely related series, the male skull sample shows the highest statistical similarity to the series from the territory of Poland, which represents the carriers of Lusatian and Trzciniec cultures. Regarding linear dimensions and facial proportions, the males from Rovantsi are the closest to the population of the Lusatian culture in Poland, differing from them mainly in the greater height of the skull and the wider face. The specificity of the Rovantsi series cannot be linked to the descendants of the Trzciniec-Komariv culture from Ukrainian regions or to the populations of the Bilohrudivska culture. The materials of the Trzciniec-Komariv cultural circle are only fragmentary present in the forest and forest-steppe areas of the Ukrainian territory. The representatives of this culture are characterised by a high and long dolichocranial skull combined with a narrow face. This feature separates them from the people buried in the Rovantsi cemetery. It is possible that the representatives of the Trzciniec-Komariv culture in Ukraine descended from the communities of the Corded Ware culture. The basis of the ‘corded ware morphology’ can be traced in the Trzciniec culture of Poland. However, due to a lack of the available data, it is impossible to assess the origin of the Rovantsi people with representatives of the Corded Ware culture.
Among the Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age steppe groups in Ukraine, the Bilozerka culture shows the closest statistical similarity to the population of Rovantsi. However, the latter group is distinguished by a narrower face, as defined by the upper facial index. It is worth noting that the statistical proximity between the inhabitants of Rovantsi and some groups of the Bilozerka culture may be explained by the fact that the latter had anthropological links with Central European groups at an earlier chronological stages.