Dental morphological analysis of Roman era burials from the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt
Ismant el-Kharab (ancient Kellis) is an archaeological site in the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, which dates from the late Ptolemaic to the late Roman period. Previous studies of skeletal material from Kellis and other oasis sites suggest that the ancient population of the Dakhleh Oasis was largely homogenous and inbred as a result of geographic isolation. Archaeological and textual evidence however, indicates a record of contact with the Nile Valley and regions further afield since the Neolithic. In order to test these apparently conflicting narratives, descriptive and multivariate statistical methods are employed in an analysis of heritable dental morphological variants in 186 individuals from Kellis. Variation in dental morphological trait frequencies are commonly used in biological distance studies to assess phenetic relationships between groups. The present study has two main components: 1) an intra-cemetery assessment of inter-sex and inter-group morphological variation in order to identify related individuals within the Kellis 2 cemetery and provide evidence for post-marital residence patterns; and 2) an interregional comparison between the Kellis skeletal assemblage and groups from Egypt, Nubia, North and
Haddow, S. D.
Dental morphological analysis of Roman era burials from the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt. Ismant el-Kharab (ancient Kellis) is an archaeological site in the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, which dates from the late Ptolemaic to the late Roman period. Previous studies of skeletal material from Kellis and other oasis sites suggest that the ancient population of the Dakhleh Oasis was largely homogenous and inbred as a result of geographic isolation. Archaeological and textual evidence however, indicates a record of contact with the Nile Valley and regions further afield since the Neolithic. In order to test these apparently conflicting narratives, descriptive and multivariate statistical methods are employed in an analysis of heritable dental morphological variants in 186 individuals from Kellis. Variation in dental morphological trait frequencies are commonly used in biological distance studies to assess phenetic relationships between groups. The present study has two main components: 1) an intra-cemetery assessment of inter-sex and inter-group morphological variation in order to identify related individuals within the Kellis 2 cemetery and provide evidence for post-marital residence patterns; and 2) an interregional comparison between the Kellis skeletal assemblage and groups from Egypt, Nubia, North and
dental morphological_analysis roman_era burial egypt ancient archaeological_site egypt date_late ptolemaic late_roman_period previous_study skeletal_material sit suggest ancient_population largely homogenous geographic isolation archaeological_textual evidence however indicate record contact nile_valley region since neolithic order_test apparently conflict narrative descriptive multivariate_statistical method_employ analysis dental morphological variant individual variation dental morphological_trait frequency commonly_use biological distance study assess relationship group present_study two_main component intra cemetery assessment inter sex inter group morphological_variation order_identify related individual_within cemetery provide_evidence post marital residence pattern interregional comparison skeletal assemblage group egypt nubia north