Üç Eski Anadolu Topluluğunda Biyolojik Uzaklık Çalışması

Abstract

Anatolia has been home to several human populations since the Paleolithic period and has been a bridge between Europe, Asia, and Middle East. Bioarcheological studies conducted in Anatolia provide significant information on the movement of ancient populations. Biological distance studies, in which the non-metric cranial traits are used to analyze biological relationships among populations and to examine population movements, provide significant data. As a result of the analysis of such data, it is possible to contribute to the reconstruction of the population history of Anatolia. Population movements in Anatolia increased durin the Bronze Age and became more pronounced in the Middle Ages. Yet, the number of biological distance studies on Anatolian populations dated to the Middle Ages is very limited. This study examines the biological relationships among three ancient Anatolian populations (Hatunköy, Gre Fılla and Hastane Höyük) that lived during the Roman and Byzantine periods, using 39 non-metric cranial traits found in the skulls of 92 individuals. The data obtained is compared with data from other Anatolian and world populations to provide a perspective on population movements in Anatolia in the Middle Ages. AnthropMMD analysis reveals that the Hastane Höyük ve Gre Fılla populations are biologically closer to each other, while Hatunköy population, which dates to an earlier period, is biologically distant to the other two. Comparisons with other Anatolian populations show that Hastane Höyük and Gre Fılla populations cluster with historically close populations. In comparisons with world populations, Anatolian populations cluster with European ones. In conclusion, the results of the biological distance analysis are in line with historical data and the results of ancient DNA studies. The data suggest that the bidirectional population movement between Europe and Anaatolia in the Middle Ages affected the biological relationships between populations and increased the similarity between European and Anatolian populations.