I reperti odontoscheletrici umani dalle tombe a cremazione e a inumazione della necropoli fenicia e punica di Nora: note preliminari

The gross assessment of cremated and inhumed skeletal remains from Nora’s necropolis gives a picture of a multifaceted funerary rituality. Nevertheless, little is known about the biological profiles of the people buried at the site. This paper offers some preliminary observations on results from the macroscopic analysis of the remains. The age-at- death estimation and sex diagnosis allowed for a preliminary assessment of the access’ criteria to the burial ground by age classes. While there are no significant differences in the rituals on a sex basis, age at death is the criterion for cremation access, which is reserved for the adult classes only at Nora. Additional analyses will allow us not only to pinpoint the nature and manner of funerary rituals, their evolution and development with the changing ethnic and social structures, but also to reconstruct the biological heritage, population dynamics and bio-cultural interactions at different phases of Nora’s settlement.