Biological Distance Analysis based on Anatomical Variations in Populations of Southern France in Medieval and Modern Times

One of the key questions that biological anthropology seeks to answer is the biological relationship between individuals. To answer this question, biological distance (biodistance) analysis is the tool that has been developed in recent years. Biodistance analysis use phenotypic or morphological data to estimate a genetic similarity between or among populations. The aim of this study is to test whether the medieval and modern populations of southern France are biologically and significantly similar. The morphological tool used to answer to our aim is asymptomatic variation. Skeletal and dental asymptomatic variations (AV) are described as non-pathological and polyfactorial traits found on the whole skeleton. Their expression is controlled by genetic and environmental factors. In this case, traits whose expression is mainly under genetic control have been selected. On four samples from two osteoarcheological collections, 94 skeletal and dental AVs have been rated, i.e., 198 ratings made on each skeleton. The mean measure of divergence (MMD) statistic has been used to analyze the biodistance. To use it effectively, primary statistics were performed to select only the most relevant traits: present in more than one individual in each sample, traits not influenced by the sex of the individual, and traits not correlated with each other. The biodistance has been estimated between four populations: two from the cathedral of Digne-les- Bains, from a medieval and a modern period, and two from the Saint-Michel cemetery in Toulouse, from two different modern period. The results show a certain similarity of the populations of Southern France. Only the medieval population of Digne and the more modern population of Toulouse are significantly different morphologically. In order to confirm or refute the results obtained, we are currently conducting a DNA analysis of the samples