This paper presents a bioarchaeological analysis of a male individual recovered from Burial 1 (M1) at Morenii Vechi, Republic of Moldova, dated to the 7th century BC and attributed to the Early Iron Age in the north-western Pontic region. The study reconstructs the individual’s biological profile through a detailed examination of the skeletal and dental remains, with particular emphasis on age at death estimation, morphological characteristics and pathological conditions.
The osteological analysis reveals age related skeletal changes, including the presence of spina bifida occulta affecting the S3-S5 sacral segments. Dental assessment reveals the absence of carious lesions and dental calculus, while non-pathological characteristics such as dental abrasion and a diastema of the maxillary anterior teeth are observed. The diastema, occurring in the absence of antemortem tooth loss, is considered a non-pathological dental variation, indicative of genetic and dento-alveolar diversity rather than pathological alteration, and may provide information relevant to physiological development and biological affinity.
Considered within their funerary and archaeological context, the combined skeletal and dental data contribute to a detailed life history reconstruction of an Early Iron Age individual and offer a detailed comparative case for bioarchaeological research in Eastern Europe.
This work was supported by a grant of the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization, CNCS – UEFISCDI, Funerary landscapes in the Carpatho-Dniestrian area at the beginning of the Late Iron Age, PN-IV-P2-2.1-TE-2023-0015.

First Author: Vasilica-Monica Groza

Co-Authors: Sergiu Popovici, Mariana Popovici, Alexandru Berzovan, Luminiţa Bejenaru

Keywords:
bioarchaeology
Early Iron Age
dental morphology
paleopathology
Republic of Moldova