Biological Diversity of Non-metric Traits in the Great Moravian Population – the Comparison of the Mikulčice Power Centre and its Hinterland.
Abstract
This study compares different socio-economic groups – Mikulčice castle, the sub-castle area (Kostelisko) and hinterland (Josefov) – on the basis of the variability of non-metric morphological traits. The primary goal was to determine the frequency of around 150 non-metric traits in the largest settlement agglomeration located in Kostelisko (425 graves), and to verify the relationship with sex, or the potential laterality differences in the case of bilateral traits.
Then, based on the variability of non-metric traits, we compared individuals buried in the Mikulčice sub-castle with individuals buried on the site of the Mikulčice acropolis itself and in the “rural” burial site at Josefov in the hinterland of the Mikulčice power centre. This study supported the previous premise that non-metric traits have a greater predicative value when used to compare smaller population groups originating from a smaller territory.