Craniometric Variation Among Medieval Croatian Populations

The purpose of this study is to examine craniometric variation among a series of medieval Croatian skeletons to determine if the populations inhabiting the coastal (Dalmatian) and continental (Pannionian) regions are morphometrically dissimilar. Differing historical population movements in the regions provide possible evidence for genetic, ethnic, and cultural dissimilarity between the Dalmatian and Pannionian regions. Cranial measurements from three coastal and three continental medieval Croatian sites are subjected to multivariate analyses to assess craniometric variation among the groups. Canonical variates analysis and distance matrix comparisons are completed for male and female mean data separately.

Plots of the first two canonical axes derived from the canonical variates analysis reveal no clear distinction between the coastal and continental sites for either sex. The plot of the male data does indicate a distinction between the late medieval site of Nova Raća and the other earlier Croatian sites. This dissimilarity is likely a result of not only temporal differences, but also increased ethnic diversity in the population of Nova Raća from intensified migrations of other central European peoples into the region beginning in the twelfth century.

Matrix comparisons of biological distance with geographic and temporal distances indicate that there is no significant correlation between any of the matrix pairs for both male and female data. Fairly high Fst values estimated from R matrices, however, indidcate genetic heterozygosity (differentiation) between the populations. Based on these analyses it is suggested that there is differentiation between the groups studied, but no significant patterning between the coastal and continental populations of medieval Croatia.