Paleogeneticists analyzed skulls from a utility pit of an ancient settlement in the Krasnodar region

The skulls found in a utility pit of an ancient settlement on the territory of the Krasnodar region were analyzed by Russian paleogeneticists, determining who these people were, N+1 magazine reported, citing an article in the journal “Bulletin of Moscow University”.

Researchers discovered 34 skulls without lower jaws in 2015 in the Crimean region of the region, at the Chekups-2 monument. The skulls were significantly damaged due to the unprofessional actions of the people who worked on the monument. Nevertheless, when the finds reached anthropologists, they were able to conduct a full-fledged study. The vast majority of the skulls belonged to adult men, but the remains of several children and teenagers were also present. Anthropologists have identified pre-mortem injuries on many of the bones, and some of the deceased appear to have been scalped. It is quite possible that these skulls were initially put on display for some time, after which they were buried in a utility pit.

Later, a paleogenetic study of the remains was carried out - fragments of the temporal bones of 16 people were selected for analysis of ancient DNA. In addition, radiocarbon dating of two more samples showed that the remains belonged to people who lived in the 1st-4th centuries AD.

Scientists determined that none of the 16 men were close relatives of each other. The combination of signs indicated that in the utility pit lay the remains of members of some military unit or participants in an armed conflict. They were probably representatives of the autochthonous population of the Caucasian Black Sea region, who lived there in Antiquity.