Anthropological diversity of individuals buried in the necropolis of the Chudov monastery (preliminary report)

Archaeological excavations carried out in the Moscow Kremlin in 2016-2017revealed totally new archaeological data on centuries-long history of the capital citycenter. The value added of the palaeoanthropological source is independent informationand provides a unique possibility for shaping ideas on lifestyle, physical appearance, healthconditions of representatives of high social strata and clergy. The paper contains dataon craniological characteristics of the group which includes 26 male skulls from burialsin the Chudov Monastery. The first craniological observations obtained by examininghuman remains from the Chudov Monastery necropolis help confirm general patternsof craniological identity of a medieval Russian city described earlier. It would beno exaggeration to say that these 'urban characteristics' are plainly visible in the examinedindividuals from the Kremlin necropolis. There is similarity between the group in questionand series from other Moscow cemeteries. The results of the earlier craniological studiesof human remains from urban necropoli form a cluster within the medieval rural population,which, on the one hand, was formed by general urbanization processes, and on the otherhand, was influenced by groups of Eastern Europe living further in the west