New Data on the Craniology of the Medieval Population of the Mountain-Foothill Zone of the Central Ciscaucasus

Abstract

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).

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