In service to the sultan: Biological affinity analysis of Vlach Ottoman vassals from the Saric Struga and Koprivno-Kriz sites in southern Croatia

As a cultural isolate and historically labeled ethnicity, the extent of biological divergence between Vlachs and non-Vlachs in Southeast Europe is not well understood. Here, we present a comparison of metric and non-metric cranial morphology designed to investigate the degree to which a Vlach sample (n = 32) from the Ottoman period in southern Croatia is biologically differentiated from non-Vlach communities. By calculating Relethford-Blangero distances using cranial measurements and conducting a mean measure of divergence test based on cranial non-metric traits, we investigated morphological relationships between the Vlach sample and other regional samples. Results from both metric and non-metric analyses indicate a close biological relationship with the non-Vlach community who lived nearby. Lacking substantial differences from the local non-Vlach community, the Vlach ethnicity may have been distinct based on socioeconomic rather than biological factors. This research points to an ethnogenesis more cultural than biological for this historical context.