Cafer Höyük ve Değirmentepe Ortaçağ Topluluklarının Karşılaştırmalı Antropolojik Analizi

Abstract

Malatya, with its strategic location near to the important trade routes and Fırat River on the Anatolia, has been a transition area for various human groups throughout the history. There is a quite limited knowledge on the Medieval period of this region which was inhabited and invaded by different groups for many times.

In this study, the human skeletal remains unearthed from Cafer Hoyuk and Degirmentepe both of which are located in Malatya, and dated back to the Medieval have been examined in consideration of data on paleodemography, paleopathology and burial practices. The high rates of infant and child mortality has been determined to reach %44,4 in Cafer Hoyuk, while it has %39,7 in Degirmentepe. This has lead to 20 years of life expactancy at birth. The fact that mortality rises up to maximum rates in the first months of the life, may be associated with the infectional diseases related to poor hygine conditions and inadequate maternal and infant care. The metabolic diseases observed on the juvenile period indicate malnutrition and hence, lower-socio-economical level. The injuries found on both groups, have been determined to be related with the accidental falling or crashing in daily life, however, a perimortem trauma observed on Degirmentepe demonstrates the presence of violence within the group. When considered the degeneration on joints related to lifestyle, the affected areas have been found to be different between females and males, which shows the gender-based roles with regards to subsistence.

The graves and burial goods unearthed from Cafer Hoyuk have been examined within the scope of burial practices. It has been determined that there is a differentiation between sub-adult and adult burials in terms of the grave types. According to the distribution, the burial goods have been found to become intense in female and chil graves, which also demonstrates that Cafer Hoyuk differs from the other Medieval groups in Anatolia in regards to quantity of burial goods.

Consequently, it can be said that the adaptation to the ecological environment of Cafer Hoyuk and Degirmentepe people were similar, although there is a quite large amount of time difference between two populations.