The Romashkino Аrchaeological Assemblage: on the issue of the settlement's destruction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24852/2587-6112.2026.3.248.260Keywords:
archaeology, Romashkino fortified settlement, posad, pre-Mongol period, population, pottery, burial, skeleton, analysis, datingAbstract
The Romashkino (Staroye Romashkino) fortified settlement and along with its surrounding posads (suburbs) and burial grounds, constitutes the largest pre-Mongol archaeological complex located east of Bilyar. Since 2013, it has been systematically studied by the Yelabuga archaeological expedition. The anthropology of the population of this pre-Mongol urban settlement has been one of the focus of recent research. Every excavation trench yields human remains, from entire skeletons to individual bones. In 2023, 4 «muslim burials» were studied in two small excavation areas laid in the eastern and southern posads. Anthropological and forensic analysis showed that the «buried» had Sub-Lapponoid-Sub-Uralic (3) or Europoid (1) physical type, aged from 20 to 45 years, were killed by violence. Facial reconstructions were performed for a Europoid male and a Sub-Lapponoid female. Select bone samples from these individuals were submitted for radiocarbon (C14) dating, yielding fascinating data that corroborates the timeline of the destruction of this settlement.
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