Phanagoria population of the roman period: experience of paleodemographic studies of anthropological materials from the eastern necropolis

There is little clarity on the extent to which society of a large urban centersuch as Phanagoria was stratified and structured. Therefore, paleodemographic researchis quite relevant. The systematic collecting of human fossil remains from the Easternnecropolis of the city has been compiled since 2005 in the course of the excavationscarried out by the Phanagorian archaeological expeditions of the Institute of Archaeology,RAS. Over the past decade more than 310 skeletons in various state of preservation havebeen collected. The age and sex have been determined for 302 individuals: 150 skeletonshave been identified as male; 63 skeletons as female; and 73 skeletons belong to childrenand juveniles; sex has not been identified for 16 individuals. Based on the materials fromthe Eastern necropolis, the demographic structure of Phanagoria is marked by certaindistinctive features such as long life expectancy and existence of specific groups (social?family?), supposedly, linked to warfare. To clarify reasons of demographic heterogeneityof urban society in the Roman period, further bioarchaeological studies are needed.