ИСТИНА

The Bronze Age (the 4th- 2nd mill. BC) was one of the key periods in human history, being associated with distribution of qualitative new material – copper and bronze. It was the time of numerous migrations of ancient tribes, settling new territories. The evaluation of health condition of people in that Age can be important, especially in relation to representatives of various social layers. The archaeological context of skeletal finds often allows determine how rich and powerful could be a buried person intravitally. The skeletal remains of some Bronze Age leaders have been analyzed. Some cases belong to the Maikop archaeological culture of the 4th mill. BC (contemporaries of the Uruk expansion in Near East), another one belongs to the Abashevo archaeological culture of the 2nd mill.BC. Differential diagnosis of cases under discussion involved hereditary diseases, metabolic disorders, traumas, infections, poisoning and cancer. As for the Maikop culture, an effect of founder of that population can be supposed. Close-relative marriages of rich families limited genetic variability and provided risk of dangerous mutations. Some of them might be reflected in palaeopathological evidence.