On August 11, 2026, the Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology celebrated the anniversary of Elena Zinovievna Godina, Chief Researcher, Professor, and Doctor of Biological Sciences.

Elena Zinovievna is known for her scientific achievements not only in our country but also abroad. E. Z. Godina’s main scientific interests are focused on the study of human growth processes. Thanks to her many years of effort, the Laboratory of Auxology was established at the Institute of Anthropology in 2009 – the only such laboratory in our country. Based on extensive materials obtained during anthropological surveys (over 20 expeditions), E.Z. Godina and her students, along with their colleagues, studied the characteristics of the somatic development of children and adolescents in various regions of Russia and identified the main trends in the variability of morphofunctional indicators and secular shifts. Over the past 10 years, under the leadership of E.Z. Godina, innovative research in sports anthropology and genetics has been successfully carried out. She has published over 380 scientific works in leading domestic and foreign publications. E.Z. Godina is the author and co‑author of a numerous textbooks for students. Under her supervision, 11 PhD dissertations were successfully defended.

E.Z. Godina has led and participated in many research projects, including international ones. She participated in the scientific program of the Institute of Humanity at Moscow State University, marking the 300th anniversary of M. V. Lomonosov; she organized and led an expedition to conduct a comprehensive anthropological study of the population of the Arkhangelsk Region; she is a participant in the “Depository” and “Leading Scientific Schools of Moscow State University” programs, and a co‑author of the project “Development of Methodology for Population‑Based Screening of Physical Development, Health Status, and Nutrition of the Russian Population Using Big Data Analytics.”

For nearly seven decades, Elena Zinovievna’s life has been closely tied to Moscow University. In 1963, she graduated from the Faculty of Biology and Soil Science at Moscow State University, majoring in anthropology. In 1980, she successfully defended her PhD dissertation entitled “Morphological Features and Some Patterns of Growth Processes in Children and Adolescents in the High‑Altitude Regions of Kyrgyzstan,” and later her doctoral dissertation on the topic “Dynamics of Human Growth and Development: Spatial and Temporal Aspects” (2001). In 2003, she received the title of senior researcher at the Moscow State University Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, and then the title of professor (2005). E.Z. Godina is an Honorary worker of higher professional education of the Russian Federation, Honorary Doctor of the Mongolian National Institute of Physical Culture, member of the Academic Council of the Moscow State University Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, member of the Dissertation Council of Moscow State University.031.1 in the specialty 3.3.1 "Anatomy and Anthropology (biological sciences)", Deputy editor-in-chief of the journal "Lomonosov Journal of Anthropology”, member of the editorial board of a number of domestic and foreign periodicals.

Since the early 1980s, E.Z. Godina has successfully taught specialized courses not only at the Department of Anthropology of the Faculty of Biology, but also in other departments of Moscow State University. She taught courses in anthropology at the Faculty of Fundamental Medicine, the Faculty of Psychology, and the Faculty of Regional Studies for students of the Russian‑American College “MSU – University of Denver” in English, including “Human Auxology” and “Age and Population Anthropology” (in English), as well as at the MSU‑PPI University in Shenzhen.

E.Z. Godina has awards and certificates from the Ministry of Education and Moscow University such as Distinguished Researcher at Moscow State University (2009), Honorary Worker of Higher Professional Education of the Russian Federation. She awarded the Friendship Medal of the Republic of Mongolia and the Pyotr Lesgaft Medal by the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation as well. For her active scientific, pedagogical and public activities, and in connection with her anniversary, the rector of Moscow University expressed gratitude to Elena Zinovievna Godina, wishing her good health and new large‑scale projects.

Anthropologists at Moscow University congratulate Elena Zinovievna on her anniversary! Dear Elena Zinovievna! You are an example of how the wisdom of a scientist and the charm of a beautiful woman can be harmoniously combined. Your lectures and presentations are memorable for their depth and originality, and your demeanor is marked by grace and dignity. You know how to be demanding in your approach to science and gentle with people. We sincerely wish you that the sparkle in your eyes never fades, that spring reigns in your soul, and that your health remains strong.

Introduction. The subject of this study is the mortality rate and causes of female students in closed girls’ boarding schools in the capital cities of the Russian Empire in the first half of the 19th century. This topic has not previously been the subject of specialized historiography.

Materials and methods. The primary source for this study was data from parish registers, introduced into scientific circulation for the first time for this purpose.

Results and discussion. The registers recorded deaths of female students at the girls’ boarding schools. At the beginning of the 19th century, causes of death were not specified, and only later, beginning in the 1810s, did the priest record the illness that caused death. In very rare cases, the registers included references to diagnoses made by the institute physician. The chosen chronological period is explained by the fact that only beginning in the 1860s were female students permitted to leave their schools for vacations, and later for holidays and even weekends, meaning that the registration of deaths in the registers of the institute churches became increasingly incomplete. The processed data is analyzed using the principles of historicism and objectivity.

Conclusion. Infant mortality in the Russian Empire remained consistently high. Even as early as the 1760s, when the first of the institutes, Smolny, was established, everyday life was based on the strictest rules of sanitation and hygiene, constant medical supervision, and the organization of proper quarantines in the event of epidemics. Records from the registers of births allow for relatively accurate calculations of the number of deaths among female students at the institutes and an analysis of quantitative data on the diseases that led to death, given the inaccuracy of diagnostics in the first half of the 19th century. The most common cause of death among adolescents at closed girls’ boarding schools was tuberculosis. It is noteworthy that, overall, the number of deaths due to epidemics at this colleges was insignificant.

Acknowledgements. The study was conducted under the state assignment of Lomonosov Moscow State University.

Introduction. The publication aims to introduce new craniological materials into scientific circulation and to conduct their comparative analysis with previously published series in order to determine the place of the studied samples within the system of craniological variability of the population of the Alanian culture of the North Caucasus.

Materials and methods. The study is based on paleoanthropological collections from the cemeteries of Kari Tsagat (9th–12th centuries CE, North Ossetia–Alania) and Sultan‑Gora‑4 (3rd–5th centuries CE, Stavropol Krai). The anthropological material from the Kari Tsagat cemetery comprises 44 skulls: 21 male, 16 female, and 7 of undetermined sex. The material from the Sultan‑Gora‑4 cemetery includes 5 skulls: 3 male and 2 female. For intergroup comparison, the method of canonical discriminant analysis was applied, implemented using the MultiCan software package. Statistical processing of craniological data was performed in Statistica 10. Published data on ten Alanian series were used as comparative material.

Results and discussion. Craniometric analysis of male and female skulls from the Kari Tsagat cemetery revealed predominantly medium-sized neurocranial and facial parts, accompanied by high individual variability (ranging from small to very large values). Male skulls are mesocranial, while female skulls are dolichocranial. The series of male skulls from the Sultan‑Gora‑4 cemetery is also characterised by average parameters, mesocrania, a medium-wide face, and narrow and low orbits. Intergroup canonical discriminant analysis (accounting for 63 % of intergroup variability) showed that the main differentiation of the studied Alanian groups (11 collections; the Sultan‑Gora‑4 series was not included in the analysis due to its small size) is driven by features of the facial part – including orbital width and height, facial height, and nasal height – in combination with the proportions of the neurocranial box.

The Kari Tsagat sample occupies a central position in the space of the first two canonical variables.

Conclusion. The early medieval population of the Central Caucasus was characterised by a mosaic anthropological structure formed in a zone of active migrations and admixture processes. It is suggested that the series from the Kari Tsagat cemetery, which demonstrates high individual variability and morphological similarity with Western Alanian groups, reflects the multicomponent formation of Alanian populations. We do not rule out the possibility that, using the Sultan‑Gora‑4 series as an example, we can assume the preservation of anthropological identity in the mountain‑foothill zone, despite cultural integration into the Alanian area, this group retained its own morphological characteristics.

Acknowledgements: The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Research Institute and the Museum of Anthropology of Lomonosov Moscow State University for providing access to anthropological material.

Funding: The study was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (project No. 25‑18‑00322).

Introduction. The purpose of the article is to determine the character of variability of the phenofund of the population of Staraya Russa during the 14^th–16^th centuries. Fr om a paleoanthropological point of view, Staraya Russa remained almost unexplored until recently. The question of the genesis of the medieval city's population is very important. This paper publishes the first dental anthropological data on the urban population of Staraya Russa and an attempt has been made to generalize all currently available paleoanthropological samples.

Materials and methods. The sample consists of 135 individuals, formed fr om 3 groups representing the nearby cemeteries of Staraya Russa. The first group belongs to St. George’s Church and dates back to the second half of the 14^th century (42 individuals). The second group belongs to the Saint Mina Church, dating from the 16^th–17^th centuries (71 individuals). The third group belongs to the St. Nicholas Church (22 individuals), it is synchronous with the St. Mina Church. The Novgorod State University (by E.V. Toropova) carried out archaeological excavations of the necropolis in 2006-2009. The research program is based on the methodological developments of A.A. Zoubov.

Results. The population of Staraya Russa has the traits of the northern gracile complex (type) of the western dental trunk. When comparing the samples, the stability of the morphological traits of the population of Staraya Russa during the 14^th–16^th centuries is observed. This happened according to a local and chronological criterion (the sum of groups of the 16^th–17^th centuries). There were no statistically significant discrepancies between the frequencies (except for the case, which was explained by a small number of observations). We do not observe such homology, for example, in Pskov, wh ere several different morphological variants are represented. In an comparison, the morphological traits of the population of Staraya Russa are similar to the total sample of Krivichi (by R.U. Gravere). Possible participation of the Baltic-Finnish populations in the formation of the morphological complex of Staraya Russa.

Discussion. The main conclusion is the phenotypic continuity of the population of Staraya Russa at different historical periods. This suggests that the process of joining Staraya Russa to Moscovy did not have an impact on the phenofund, which was most likely formed on the basis of Krivichi (with the inclusion of the Baltic-Finnish component). Similar population processes occurred in some other non-urban settlements of the North-West of Russia, wh ere a similar dental anthropological complex was found to a large extent.

Acknowledgements. Before writing the article, the author made a report «Nonmetric dental of the population of Staraya Russa in the second half of the XIV–XVII centuries» at the XL scientific conference «Novgorod and the Novgorod land. History and Archeology» (29.01.2026). The author expresses his gratitude to the organizers of the conference for the opportunity to speak and discuss the results. The author thanks the Novgorod State University team of archaeologists, in particular E.V. Toropova (the head of the archaeological excavations in Staraya Russa) for the opportunity to work with the collection and the staff of the Institute and Museum of Anthropology (Moscow State University) for providing access to the collections. The author thanks N.A. Leibova for providing unpublished data and advice during the writing of the article and O.M. Leibova for assistance in data visualization.