In the case of time-consuming or arduous activity the individual bone, modifications of the individual skeleton may occur. Specific activities or movements are predominantly responsible for these modifications and are likely to be carried out for long periods from a young age of the individual. One of these modifications is considered to be some of the so- called non-metric traits on the postcranial skeleton. Special attention is being paid to changes of the articulation facets and changes in some muscular or ligaments' binding areas which are considered to be possibly related to excessive physical stress, occurring through the lifetime (squatting position). With respect to the frequency of 30 postcranial non-metric traits 293 skeletal remains in the Great Moravian population from the settlement agglomeration Mikulčice-Valy (9th - 10th century) have been compared. The primary goal of this research was to determine the frequency of non-metric traits and to verify the relationship with sex - age or the potential laterality differences in the case of bilateral traits. Then, based on the variability of non-metric traits, two different socio-economic groups were compared - the castle (burial site III. church) and the hinterland (burial sites Prušánky and Josefov). The highest incidence of traits was...

The non-metric postcranial traits characterize biological variability of human skeletal morphology. Special attention is beeing paid to changes in some muscular or ligaments' binding areas and to changes of the articulation facets which are considered to be possibly retaled to excessive physical stress, occuring through the lifetime. The osteological material belonging to the populations of the Corded Ware culture and the Bell Beaker culture in the area of Bohemia has been surveyed with respect to non-metric trait occurence. The origin of both of these culture bearers is still a discused issue. There is a hypothesis saying that bearers of both Late Eneotithic cultures might represent actually one population and the differency of cultural patterns were due only to life-style changes, not to large-area migration. With respect to the frequency of 94 postcranial non-metric traits both samples have been compared to each other on a basis of measure of divergence and mean measure of divergence. The samples of Late Eneolithic populations showed significant difference only in frequencies of two non- metric traits and along with the values of mean measure of divergence they seem to show rather homogeneity. Afterwards both samples were compared with a sample from Great Moravian burial site Mikulčice - Kostelisko and...