DEMOGRAPHY AND PALEOPATHOLOGY OF LATE HOLOCENE PASTORALISTS OF CIS-BAIKAL
This article presents results of bioarchaeological analysis of 28 human burials from 15 Late Holocene pastoralist cemeteries in Cis-Baikal (Eastern Siberia). These cemeteries are from three main regions: Cis-Olkhon region, North Baikal, and Kuda Valley. These burials are dated by the radiocarbon method to 2778 to 332 cal. BP, after adjustment for the freshwater reservoir effect. Age and sex determinations were also made for several individuals. The majority of them belong to adults, but juveniles were also identified. All juvenile burials were found at cemetery Karganai I. Their ages were from 6 to 10,5 years old. The majority of adult individuals are males. Cemetery Elga 21 contained only males aged 35+ years old. A single female burial was found at cemetery Olzontei 6. Stature reconstructions were possible for 12 individuals. These analyses showed that the stature of males was, averagely speaking, higher than that of females. Pathological skeletal lesions include degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis, bilateral oval arachnoid depressions, spondylolysis, largely-healed tibia-fibula fracture, genu valgum, cribra femora, and other infectious diseases. Dental lesions include calculus, abscesses, periodontitis, enamel hypoplasia, and antemortem teeth loss. One juvenile burial from Karganai 1 № 3 (2) stood out among the rest of the remains. This individual had a resorptive maxillary lesion and display considerable growth stunting by approximately 3 years of age. All these patterns are signs of infectious disease, possibly leprosy.