Introduction. The article deals with the science achievements of talanted biometrician of the second half of the XX century, the employee of the Institute and Museum of Moscow State University, doctor of biology Yuliya Sergeevna Kurshakova, wnich science activity has never been regarded comprehensively.
Material and methods. The source of constructing the article is archive documents of the Institute and Museum of Anthropologty, science articles by Yu.S.Rurshakova and literary data.
Results and discussion. Yu.S.Kurshakova was the head of the laboratory of applied studies of the Institue and Nuseum of anthropology for two decedes.She was engaged in developing the problems of anthropological standardization, the research of fundamental conformities and factors of somatic variability, age variability of children, ethnoterritorial, social and professional variability of adult males and females.
In 1962 Yu.S.Kurshakova defended PhD thesis «Statistical correlations as the means of expression of morphological integrity during the process of growth and development», in 1987 — Doctor of Biology thesis in the form of science report «Theoretical and methodological basis of construction of anthropometric standards of wide and prolonged action».
From the end of 1950s and on to solve State problems of development of size typology of construction of products of Light Industry for child’ and adult population of the country and compilation of size scales, the employees of the Institute of anthropology of MSU conducted wide research of population of the USSR, embracing 120 000 persons, and further analysis of conformities of age/sex and territorial variability of anthropometric traits and their correlations. The research culminated in developing and practical implementation of a number of State Standards, Yu.Kurshakova was one of the authors.
In 1964 the team of the Institute of Anthropology started one more State task — the development of combined size standards for countries-member of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance. This task demanded theoretical investigations in the field of anthropo;ogical stardardization, which became the basis of the principles of construction of CoMEA standard and are in fact the exceptional merit of Yuliya Sergeevna Kurshakova.
Introduction. The 2023 was the anniversary year for anthropology, when 180 years were celebrated since the birth of D.N. Anuchin (1843–1923) and 140 years since the founding of the Museum of Anthropology of Moscow University. The jubilee year is the best time tо remember those, who without sparing their strength and health, contributed to the development of education in Russia. In the article, for the first time in literature, an attempt was made to recreate images of people who took the most active part in the formation of the ethnographic collection of the Museum of Anthropology of Moscow University.
Materials and methods. The article is based on the materials of the Museum's Book of Acquisitions, information from collection inventories and the scientific archive of the Research Institute and the Museum of Anthropology, as well as data from literature and other open sources. The chronological method was used in the work.
Results and discussion. The article presents information on 17 collectors, whose names are arranged in chronological order. The article presents data on the following collectors and donors: anthropologist and public figure N.L. Gondatti (1861–1946); publicist, archaeologist, and ethnographer N.M. Yadrintsev (1842–1894); Ambassador Extraordinary to Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay A.S. Ionin (1837–1900); military man and diplomat V.F. Mashkov (1858–1932); military man, linguist, and ethnographer S.G. Leontovich (1862–?); geographer and anthropologist E.I. Lutsenko (1876–1931); revolutionary and public figure F.Ya. Kon (1864–1941); entomologist and genealogist N.F. Ikonnikov (1885–1970); ethnographer and museologist D.T. Yanovich (1879–1940); zoologist and zoogeographer I.I. Puzanov (1885–1971); poet K.D. Balmont (1867–1942); anthropologist, Doctor of Biological Sciences V.V. Troitsky (1885–– 1952); as well as members of the Second Russian Expedition to South America (1914–1915): G.G. Manizer (1889–1917); F. Fielstrup (1889–1933); I.D. Strelnikov (1887–1981); N.P. Tanasiychuk (1890–1960) and S.V. Gaiman (1887–). Unfortunately, the size of the article allows only brief information about these people, while each of them is worthy of a separate study.
Introduction. The article is devoted to a review of the results of anthropological research of European populations based on visual art, which is conducted in the laboratory of racial studies of the Anuchin Institute and Museum of Anthropology of Moscow State University.
Results and discussion.The study of morphological variability of population based on the visual arts is a relatively new interdisciplinary area of physical anthropology. Research is being carried out in two directions: 1) European portraiture of the 15th-19th centuries and Russian portraiture of the 18th - 19th centuries, 2) Mediterranean ancient sculpture and painting. Descriptions of materials and methodology are detailed in the main articles of the team cited in the bibliography. The image series were studied from a population approach to the analysis of variability. About one and a half thousand Western European and Russian portraits were studied, anthropological characteristics and estimates of homogeneity of the population were obtained by descriptive method and the composite portrait method. An anthropological description of the ancient population of the Mediterranean was obtained from samples: Fayum pictorial portraits, Roman sculptural portraits, Etruscan pictorial and sculptural portraits, Greek sculptural and pictorial portraits.
Introduction. There are several standardized methods for estimating the age of a skull. Most of these methods are based on the analysis of suture obliteration and the tooth wear scoring. However, many anthropologists prefer a more subjective approach, relying on general impressions without using a set of standardized criteria. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a visual method for age estimation and reconstruction of age-at-death structure in a skeletal sample.
Materials and methods. The study was based on a series of 116 skulls from the early 20th century collected by the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera). These specimens had documented sex and age information. Two researchers independently assessed the age of the skull specimens and recorded the degree of suture fusion on the cranial vault as well as the level of tooth wear on the occlusal surfaces. The correlation between age and estimated scores was calculated using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. The discrepancy between estimated and actual ages was measured by calculating the mean absolute error (MAE) and systematic error (SE) as the average difference between documented and estimated ages for the entire sample as well as for each age group. Intraclass correlation coefficients were used to assess the consistency of the authors’ estimates.
Results. The authors' estimates showed moderately high agreement among themselves and a moderate positive correlation with actual age. The accuracy of the visual assessments was found to be comparable with that of more formalized methods for assessing the degree of suture obliteration. The estimates also exhibited the phenomenon of regression to the mean, with individuals in younger cohorts being systematically overestimated in terms of age and those in older cohorts being underestimated. The accuracy of determining the age-at-death distribution depends to some extent on the actual characteristics of the sample structure. Averaging estimates from different authors or several estimates from the same author, repeated over a large time interval, makes it possible to bring estimates closer to real data.
