Introduction.
The centennial development of physical anthropology in China can be divided into three periods: 1) the initial period fr om the end of the 19th century to the founding of New China in 1949, when anthropology was imported from the West and gradually localized; 2) the unstable development period from 1949 to 1976, which was faced with a major restructuring of the discipline, the epoch of Sino-Soviet friendship, and a ten-year period of turbulence of the Cultural Revolution; 3) the period of rapid development after the reform and opening up of the country at the end of the 1970s.
Materials and methods.
The author presents the history of anthropological exchanges between China and Russia over the past hundred years through the study of literature and photographic sources.
Results.
Before the founding of New China, communications of anthropology between China and Russia was represented by S.M. Shirokogorov; after the founding of New China, it was represented by N.N. Cheboksarov; during the period of Sino-Soviet friendship, China adopted the suggestions of Soviet scientists and launched journals, translated and published monographs, and dispatched international students, Dong Tichen and Cui Chengyao, to study in the Soviet Union.
Conclusion.
In this article, for the first time, a large number of old photographs from private collections have been released to show the life story of Dong Tichen, the first anthropologist who went to the Soviet Union to study and returned to China. After graduating from Beijing Normal University, Dong Tichen went to Moscow University to study anthropology and obtained his Ph.D. in biology in 1961. He became a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at Fudan University, wh ere he was one of the earliest teachers of anthropology in New China. His research was pioneering and prospective, for example, his proposed taxonomic position of the Gigantopithecus was very forward-looking; he created a precedent in the study of dermatoglyphics in China and contributed to the foundations of anthropometrics. His return solidified the discipline of anthropology at Fudan University, and during his short life he trained several students who would become the mainstay of anthropology in the new China in the future. Unfortunately, he died in 1966, as a result of social unrest and change.
Introduction. Of the numerous ceramic production centers of ancient Greece, the Attica region is notable for its continuous development of vase painting styles. Compared to the black-figure and red-figure painting techniques, the polychrome painting of Attic vases on a white-ground may indicate polymorphism in the pigmentation of the ancient Greeks.
Materials and methods. The material was collected in digitized museum collections and thematic literature. The color and nature of the characters' hair were studied from vase painting and funerary painting. Anthroposcopic method and simple statistics were used. The significance of differences between groups was assessed using the chi-square test.
Results and discussion. In all samples of Attic vase painting, the wavy nature of the hair is predominant, and this frequency does not change significantly over time. The highest frequency of straight nature of the hair (13.3%) is observed in white-ground vase painting. In comparison with the characters in vase paintings, modern Greeks have predominantly straight, lightly wavy hair, especially in women, and then wavy hair. For all style groups of Attic vase painting, no gender differences in nature of the hair were identified. The depiction of hair color on white-ground vase paintings of the early classical and classical times is significantly different: in the earlier vase painting, black and dark brown predominate, and in the later ones, brown/light brown and red-brown. The minimum frequency of dark shades of the hair is noted in Hellenistic funerary painting; it shows, like the white-ground vase painting of the classics, a lighter-pigmented population. The hair color of the modern Greek population is predominantly dark. Based on the hypothesis that the artist depicts familiar forms as traditional ones and reflects the anthropological characteristics of his group, the polymorphism of pigmentation and nature of the hair of the ancient and modern Greek populations is different.
Conclusion. Groups of art sources that differ in chronology and style do not represent the hair pigmentation of the population of ancient Greece in the same way. To further study polymorphism of pigmentation of the ancient population, it is necessary to correct the methodology to correlate the actual colors used in vase/mural painting with the hair color classes of the traditional color scale, as well as the use of additional comparative materials.
Introduction.Identifying kinship relationships fr om skeletal remains is among the various objectives of bioarchaeological studies. This article focuses on reviewing the methods used to analyze biological kinship in human fossil populations through non-metric traits.
Methods. Since direct molecular-genetic analysis of kinship is often highly challenging due to the poor preservation of ancient DNA, special attention in such studies is given to nonmetric phenotypic traits.
Results. Research with osteological samples that have been documented provides compelling evidence that the level of morphological similarity between individuals is directly related to their degree of biological kinship. In cases wh ere the pedigrees of osteological materials are fully or partially known, phenotypic data can be effectively used in lieu of genetic information.
Discussion. The methodology developed for kinship analysis depends on the internal spatial structure of the cemetery being studied. When analyzing small burial sites, the aim is to determine if the people buried there are close relatives. Various methods are used in these analyses, including different techniques for determining the likelihood of kinship, cluster analysis, and correlation coefficients. Identifying kinship is most promising in burial sites where archaeological or historical indicators of biological relationships are present. Kinship analysis in spatially structured cemeteries is aimed at identifying families or social groups. The analysis of uniformly distributed cemeteries focuses on identifying closely related individuals in large burials without clearly defined subgroups. This involves spatial correlation analysis, which tests for significant correlation between the matrix of spatial distances and the matrix of phenotypic distances; various counting methods to test for non-random clustering of traits; the nearest neighbor method; and a non-spatial block search procedure that simultaneously identifies presumed relatives and the traits that indicate the degree of their kinship.
Conclusion. Many problems in establishing kinship can be overcome with the availability of skeletal material accompanied by verified genealogical data. Unfortunately, skeletal remains with preserved documentation are quite rare, limiting the opportunities to study the inheritance of non-metric traits and the morphological similarity of biologically related individuals.
Introduction.The article is devoted to the problem of establishing the eastern border of the Saka culture of Alai. An important role in understanding of this problem is played by the Touyun burial ground, located in the southwestern part of Xinjiang, close to Kyrgyzstan.
Materials and methods. This burial ground has specific funeral rites, which demonstrate the characteristic features peculiar to the Saka culture of Alai. In particular, these are burials in stone boxes, crypt-like stone structures and at the level of the ancient surface, constructed under low stone-earth burial mounds. Burials in them were both single and multi-act. The buried people in these burials were in an elongated position with orientation of the sculls to the west and northwest direction. The funeral inventory from Touyun was relatively poor and represented by a couple of ceramic vessels, jewelry items (earring, bracelet, and beads), a belt garment (belt buckle), household items (sumac, awls) and clothing items (plaques).
Results and discussion. These funeral objects, based on analogies, allowed us to establish the time of existence of the Touyun burial ground, which fits into the chronological framework of the end of the 5th – 3rd centuries BC. It is evident, that this necropolis appears as a result of the migration of the Saka population from the eastern part of the Alai Valley. The occupying this territory group of Alai Saka was appeared in the contact zone with the population of the Saka culture of Tien Shan region, with which, apparently, they established marital ties. Currently, the Touyun burial ground is the easternmost site of the Saka culture of Alai, which makes it possible to expand the border of this culture by more than 130 km to the east than previously thought. It also made it possible to significantly clarify the real areas of the main archaeological cultures in the southwestern part of Xinjiang such as the Saka cultures of Alai, Pamir and Tien Shan region.
Introduction. Since its foundation in 1755, Moscow University has become a cultural, scientific and educational center, the social significance of which surpassed both educational and scientific. The University published a city newspaper, printed magazines, books and textbooks; its library, Museum of Natural History and Botanical Garden were open to the public, university holidays served to popularize science and education. The educational function has become traditional for the university.
Materials and methods. The sources of the work are the statutory documents of universities and secondary educational institutions, accounting documents of inspections, in the study of which historico-typological and historico-descriptive methods are used.
Results. The Charter of 1804 legislatively assigned the university the leadership of secondary and lower-level educational institutions in the Moscow Educational District, which included Moscow, Vladimir, Vologda, Kaluga, Kostroma, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tver, Tula and Yaroslavl provinces. University professors regularly surveyed educational institutions, studied their financial situation, the qualifications of teachers, the level of training of students, and gave recommendations on how to improve the work of educational institutions. The problems of local schools were discussed in the University's Academical Committee, and ways to open new educational institutions were discussed. The reports were forwarded to the Ministry of Public Education. Since 1835, the management of secondary and lower schools has been transferred from universities to the trustees of educational districts. Since 1835, the management of secondary and lower schools has been transferred from universities to the trustees of educational districts.
Conclusion. The work of the University in the first half of the 19th century on the management of schools at various levels of the Moscow Educational District played a crucial role in the formation of the national public education system.
Introduction.The article presents the results of a comprehensive study of a sample of students from the Republic of Korea studying in Moscow. In the context of intensive international student exchanges, the problems of young people’s adaptation to life and study in another country are becoming a relevant subject of scientific research, including modern biological anthropology.
Material and methods. We applied traditional anthropometric methods, as well as questionnaire and self-esteem scale by T. Dembo, S. Rubinstein. Data collection was carried out in compliance with the rules of bioethics and with further depersonalization of the collected materials. Statistical methods included descriptive statistics, correlation and factor analyses.
Results and discussion. Based on anthropometry data, body mass index was calculated and graphs of its distribution meet the criteria of normality. In males, the body mass index is mainly within the normal range, while in the female sample there is a noticeable percentage of participants with low body weight according to the standards of the World Health Organization.
In male sample, body mass index shows a negative relationship with satisfaction with nutrition, physical well-being and sports activities, which is consistent with the results of our study of Russian students. Body mass index in females shows a positive relationship with self-esteem. The results made it possible to evaluate the associations between physical and psychological characteristics and some social factors.
Conclusion. The results of the study indicate a significant influence of social factors, and above all, self-socialization, on the physical and psychological state of young people, which must be taken into account in interactions with international students.
Introduction. The article analyzes materials dated to the 16th–17th
centuries came from Smolensk. This period turned out to be one of the most complex and eventful in the history of the region, that's why every new detail is significant for the study. For a long time, Smolensk functioned as a boundary city and also as an important trade hub between the Muscovite Tsardom and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; so, the composition of its population may reflect the influence of the western neighbors.
Materials and methods. There were examined the craniological materials discovered during the excavations at the Pyatnitsky district of the city in 2012. The necropolis dates back to the turn of the 16th–17th
centuries, it is located on the high bank of the Dnieper near the fortress wall of the Smolensk Kremlin. The materials include 17 male and 19 female skulls. Classical and multidimensional biometric methods were used as statistical approaches.
Results. The comparison beetween the studied sample and the other sample of the 12th century city population known from the literature has showed their high similarity, although the later sample tends to be slenderer. Statistically significant differences were recorded only for certain parameters of the skull.
The comparison with the aggregated sample of the rural Smolensk region population dated to the 18th–19th centuries also revealed a significant difference for the cranial length and height and some parameters of the facial skeleton. Discriminant analysis showed a quite unique status of the studied sample, which differs from both synchronous urban groups and later samples of the rural population of the central region. There are also no processes of macrosomization observed for it.
Conclusion. The absence of significant differences for most characteristics between the studied sample and the urban population of the 12th century can indicate the continuity of the morphological type of the Smolensk urban population. On the other hand, the intermediate position of the studied sample in relation to early and late comparative materials can indicate that the studied sample represents recent settlers from the rural area.
Introduction.Human body morphological structure is a convenient and informative describer of individual development and condition. The study analyzed the indicators of the body physique in reliance on the body mass index in male adolescents of Magadan Region.
Materials and Methods. Two hundred and eight male adolescents permanently residing in the territory of Magadan Region were examined. The sample made up three groups according to the body mass index: Group 1 was for adolescents with a body mass deficit; Group 2 was normal body mass subjects, and Group 3 was overweight examinees. By using common methods, we studied basic anthropometric indicators with further calculation of the body component composition and specific indices.
Results. Resulting from the research we could refer 23% of the examined adolescents in Magadan Region to those having body mass deficit, 63% of the sample were people with normal body mass, and 15% of the surveyed subjects were diagnosed with excess body mass. Interestingly, there is a growth of BMI among overweight adolescents occurs owing equally to fat, muscle, and bone components.
Conclusion. The conducted research has shown quite good physical condition experienced by adolescent examinees: the values of fat, muscle, and bone components could be referred as norms despite the observed overweight and a negative growth in the waist circumference index. The results contribute to the understanding of necessity of a wider range of physical characteristics for assessing excess body mass, including indicators of body component using the bioimpedance method with further calculation of fat, muscle, and bone indices.
Introduction.The purpose of the work is to determine of temporal variability of morphological characteristics of urban Abkhazian children and adolescents in the context of changing living conditions.
Materials and methods. For the first time, the parameters of some morphological signs of Abkhaz children and adolescents 10-17 years old from the city of Sukhum (Republic of Abkhazia) in 2012 were presented. Intergenerational analysis of somatic development indicators was carried out for boys and girls 10-17 years (the total number of examined was 1,651 people). Surveys 2005 and 2012 were conducted under a single protocol and included a set of measuring and descriptive features.
Results. During the considered time period for Abkhaz adolescents of 17 years, stability of longitudinal proportions of the skeleton is noted. For Abkhaz girls, a time trend has been established towards flattening the shape of the chest, and narrowing the shoulder diameter. Similar changes in transverse skeletal parameters in boys are trending.
The observed discrepancies in the parameters of signs for two samples of Abkhaz children are observed during ecosensitive growth periods. Stunts in growth and development caused by the effects of difficult living conditions in the early years in children of the 2005 examination are compensated by the end of the growth period. Two samples of Abkhaz children achieve similar definition parameters at different rates. The under development for younger children in the 2005 sample is offset by continued growth rates until the end of the growth period. Over the period of time considered, labile components of catfish have changed to a greater extent, determining the girth characteristics of the body. For Abkhaz children, a temporary trend towards an increase in abdominal fat deposition and a decrease in subcutaneous fat deposition on the limbs was determined.
Conclusion. The sex specificity of the time trend of different characteristic systems is observed. Changes in the transverse dimensions of the skeleton for girls were noted. For Abkhaz children, a time trend has been determined to change the topography of subcutaneous fat deposition according to the "truncal" type, which is probably the result of adaptation to new living conditions, changes in the traditional lifestyle of the population. Over the period of time under review, minor changes in the skeletal system were noted for Abkhaz adolescents. Significant changes affected the fatty component of the soma: there is a change in the topography of fat deposition towards the truncal type. For Abkhaz teenagers, the gender specificity of the secular dynamics of various systems of characteristics has been established. The study results demonstrate the important role of environmental factors on the morphological status of the genetically stable Abkhaz population.
Keywords:
anthropological variability; biological anthropology; secular trend; auxology; children and adolescents; growth and development; Abkhazian population; negative living conditions
Introduction. The goal of study is the estimation of «peak height velocity» (PHV) as the marker of secular trends in addition to secular dynamics of height (H).
Material and methods. The study embraces the block of samples of scholars (6/7–17 years) from Russia and former USSR, examined through the vast historical period from 1920th till nowadays, literary data and personal archives of the authors. The main attention is paid to three urban agglomerations – Moscow, Nizhniy Novgorod, Minsk. The following number of parameters is determined for each sample: the age of maximal velocity of growth dynamics of average levels of H during adolescence (APHV), determined according to the empirical patterns of annual changes of average H levels and consequent smoothing by least square method – differentially for boys and girls; and delta between parameters of boys and girls; maximal quantitative level of growth changes in cm (IPHV), different for boys and girls as well, and delta between the parameters.
Results. The difference of APHV between boys and girls for each population under study is about two years – boys have delayed PHV as compared to girls in any ecological niche. Secular dynamics of APHV has nonlinear character, doesn’t decrease progressively through the whole historical interval from 1920th to 2000th, despite of permanent increase of the level of anthropogenic stress in cities under analysis, the lowest APHV is fixed in 1980th. Correlations of APHV with absolute annual H values through the age interval 6/7–17 years is systematic and high enough for boys (correlation about 0,5, determination coefficient about 0,25) and accidental for girls, being revealed for only one annual age group among 12 analyzed. Correlations of IPHV with absolute values of H are maximal at 7 years and minimal at 17 years, the level of correlations is less for girls as compared to boys.
Conclusion. PHV really marks the secular somatic dynamics along with H itself as genetic marker. Correlation of APHV with absolute annual levels of H through the interval 6/7–17 years is systematic and significant for boys and accidental for girls, which witness to genetic determination of growth tempo of boys. Correlation of IPHV with absolute values of H, having highest levels at 7 years, points to the fact that height at 7 years is a real trigger of PHV parameters.
Keywords:
anthropological variability; chronological age at peak height velocity; intensity of peak height velocity; different sex strategies of growth velocities; different sex strategies of growth velocities; correlation of age and intensity of peak height velocity with height
Introduction. This study compared body mass index and arterial blood pressure indices in boys and girls born in Magadan fr om ages eleven to seventeen.
Material and methods. A total of 633 girls and 784 boys aged 11–17 were randomly sampled for the examination which was fulfilled in school physician’s offices and in the summer period of June-July, 2018–2019, in a children’s health camp. Body length (BL, cm) and body mass (BM, kg) were measured, and BMI was calculated for each student. A complex of hard & software unit for noninvasive study of central hemodynamics and the method of volumetric compression oscillometry were used to test subjective cardiohemodynamic performance at rest.
Results. At the age of 14–17, boys tended to be higher in systolic blood pressure (mmHg) and body mass (kg) than girls (p <0.01, p <0.01). Girls, compared with boys, demonstrated higher average variables of heart rate (p <0.05, p <0.01) and diastolic blood pressure (p <0.01, p <0.001) through all age groups. By analysis of individual values obtained for blood pressure and heart rate, 77.2–70.2% of boys and 80.2–75.1% of girls could be referred to those having normal indices. 11.3% of boys and 10.3% of girls exhibited blood pressure variables close to the upper lim it of the norm (high norm), and 11.5% and 9.5% of schoolchildren, respectively, were diagnosed with hypertension. Body weight deficiency or overweight were characteristic of 7.2% and 8.7% of girls, and 4.7% and 6.1% of boys, respectively (p <0.05). Quite similar percentage of children could be considered obese: 2.5% of boys and 2.7% of girls.
Conclusion. The most pronounced changes in children’s cardiohemodynamic performance develop in puberty: in girls from ages 11 to 13, in boys at ages 11–14 and 16–17. High incidence of arterial hypertension was observed in both boys and girls at 16–17. A positive correlation between body mass index and blood pressure level existed.
Introduction. Secular changes in the somatometric parameters of children and adolescents of both sexes are observed in most countries of the world. The data in the literary sources are contradictory and indicate two opposite directions of the processes of changes in time the parameters of physical development – acceleration and deceleration, which points out to the need for their constant monitoring.
Materials and methods. A comparative analysis of the main somatometric indicators of physical development (length and body weight) was carried out in children and adolescents of both sexes in the city of Gomel aged 8 to 16 years, obtained in 1925 (first group), 1973 (second group), 2010–2012 (third group), 2021–2022 (fourth group). These populations were homogeneous in place of residence, ethnicity, close in time of inspection and representative in number. The number of boys and girls in each age group was 100 or more people.
Results. It was found that children and adolescents of both sexes of the Republic of Belarus examined in 2010–2012 and 2021–2022 had higher values of somatometric indicators (body length and weight) compared to their peers examined in 1925 and 1973 (p<0,05–0,001). At the same time, there were practically no statistically significant differences between the anthropometric indicators of schoolchildren of two gender groups surveyed in 2010–2012 and in 2021–2022.
Conclusion. A comparative analysis of the anthropometric indicators of children and adolescents of both sexes aged 8–16 years from 1925 to 2022 indicates that the process of acceleration among urban schoolchildren in Belarus observed in the period from 1925 to 2012 stopped, which is indicated by the absence of statistically significant differences between the anthropometric indicators of schoolchildren surveyed in 2010–2012 and in 2021–2022.
Introduction. This work continues the series of articles devoted to the assessment of the main directions of auxology development in Russian anthropology. This part presents and describes the work of the staff of the Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology of Lomonosov Moscow State University, the Department of Anthropology of the Faculty of Biology of Lomonosov Moscow State University, as well as the Russian University Sport (SCOLIPE) and the Federal Science Center of Physical Culture and Sport (VNIIFK).
Materials and methods. In this part of the work, articles devoted to the comprehensive assessment of the research of physical development in the context of psychology, psychophysiology, genetics and sports anthropology, which were published in the «Lomonosov Journal of Anthropology (Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin)»from 2009 to 2022 were used as a source of information.
Results and discussion. The described works evaluate, firstly, the psychosomatic connections of self-esteem and soma parameters that determine it, as well as the specifics of the processes of growth and adaptation in biological and psychological aspects. Secondly, the intra-group variability of neurophysiological parameters (EEG parameters) and the analysis of their correlations with somatic indicators are considered. Thirdly, the contribution of genetic factors to the development of morphological trait systems, primarily associated with increased body weight and obesity, is evaluated. In addition, the results of studies devoted to the search for predictors of sports success and the analysis of the physical status of athletes of various specializations are presented.
Conclusion. The number of works similar to those described in this review is steadily growing every year, which suggests an increasing integrative nature of anthropological research.
