Population of Chernigov in the 10th–13th Centuries According to Paleodemographic Data

Abstract

The work is devoted to the 10th–13th-century paleodemographic data regarding the city of Chernigov and its districts, and to their introduction into the scientific domain. The study is based on the data on the anthropological series of Chernigov in the 10th–13th centuries, divided into three samples according to the topographic principle. This series is characterized by a low average life expectancy in comparison to other southern Old Rus cities. The feature of the necropolises of Chernigov indicating the predominance of female burials over male ones, revealed in the 1980s, has been confirmed at a new level. A study of the demographic parameters of the Chernigov population groups in the 10th–13th centuries, united on a territorial basis, has shown differences in their structure, probably reflecting the peculiarities of the life quality, social status, and professional specialization of the population of different parts of the city. Further research into the remains of the city’s population with methods of paleopathology, osteometry, osteoscopy, radiology, etc., as well as the analysis of aspects of the political history of the region, would help shed light on the possible causes of the identified features of the demographic structure of the population in the pre-Mongolian period.