Conclusive Palaeodemographic Analysis, Based on New Anthropological Data from the Cemetery of Qumran

A demographic approach to the analysis of human skeletal remains provides important information about the populations of archaeological sites. Estimating the basic parameters of age-at-death and sex of skeletal remains are important elements in almost all studies of past populations, as they contribute essential data about the population of the particular site and human society in the relevant period in general. In the specific study of Qumran’s cemetery, these parameters constitute an important element in understanding the nature of the associated archaeological site and the identity of its inhabitants: The age and sex composition of the skeletal population may support or refute suggestions made about the identity of the people of Qumran, whether a community of ideologically celibate men, a group of craftsmen, soldiers who were stationed or died in this region, or regular civilians living in the area surrounding this small settlement.