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SARAJEVO, June 28 (FENA) - Anthropological analysis of 22 skeletal remains from the necropolis "Metaljica" with stećak tombstone in Vilovac near Tarčin from the 15th century found that 17 adults aged between 40 and 50 and five children aged nine months to nine years were buried there. Their genetic structure corresponds to the genetic structure of today's BiH population.
Director of the Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Sarajevo (UNSA) and project manager Naris Pojskić explained in an interview with FENA that 20 graves with 22 individuals were analyzed and they found double burials, i.e. two individuals were buried in one grave.
“The analysis established that 17 adults and five children were buried in "Metaljica" necropolis. One child was 9-12 months old, another 3-5 years, the third 6-10 years, the fourth 7-11 years and for the fifth child age could not be determined. Considering that the bones were quite damaged postmortem, an approximate age could have been determined in three individuals, between 40 and 50 years,” Pojskić explained.
They could also determine that seven individuals were male, four female, and for six of them gender could not be determined. Also, gender could not be determined for children's skeletons.
The results of the molecular-genetic analysis so far have not indicated a close relationship between the analyzed individuals, and for the final confirmation of this finding, the results of mitochondrial DNA sequencing, which is currently in the finalization phase, are pending.
By analyzing mitochondrial DNA, Pojskić said, in addition to maternal kinship, it is possible to determine the affiliation to the mitochondrial haplogroup, which is crucial for determining the origin and positioning of medieval Bosnian population in the context of the entire human population.
“According to previous scientific knowledge, it can be stated that the analyzed individuals from the archaeological site of the medieval "Metaljica" necropolis are not relatives, are of different ages and do not differ from the recent populations in BiH from the molecular-genetic aspect, which classifies the population of this locality into medieval Bosnian population. This clearly shows the connection between the majority of today's BiH population with the medieval Bosnian population,” concluded Pojskić.
Probes at the Metaljica necropolis are currently protected, and further excavations have been suspended due to measures taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but Pojskić expressed hope that they would continue the research in late August or early September.
(FENA) A. B.
