Dubova Nadezhda Anatol'evna

Introduction. The paper revisits the intergroup craniometric variability in the Early Iron Age, Antiquity and Early medieval Central Asian population. Some new cranial materials are considered within the hierarchical system of the regional populations.

Materials and methods. The comparison included 61 cranial samples from all historical and cultural regions of Central Asia with a total of 1100 crania. 12 standard measurements of the facial skeleton were used. First, we conducted Canonical discriminant analysis. Second, the matrix of Mahalanobis D² distances was obtained using the resulting group coordinates in the space of the canonical vectors. Finally, the distance matrix was subjected to Multidimensional scaling and the Ward’s hierarchical cluster analysis.

Results. The first three canonical variates reflect 53.4% of the total intergroup variation and differentiate samples based on bizygomatic breadth, orbit dimensions, nasal bridge height (and width to a lesser extent), horizontal profiling angles and nose protrusion angle. Upper facial height also contributes to intergroup craniometric variability but does not play a decisive role in differentiating among samples of European ancestry in the considered chronological period. Correlation coefficients between canonical variables and multidimensional scaling coordinates suggest similar relative positions of the groups in the scatterplots.

Discussion. Considering the mixed nature of the Central Asian population and the difficulty of objective differentiation of morphological types, we caution against unreflective use of terms “East Mediterranean type” and “Pamir-Fergana race”. The results suggest that the Antiquity and Early medieval sedentary populations are difficult to distinguish from nomadic and semi-nomadic groups of the Wusun period. The new materials confirm the morphological similarity between Early medieval population of Sogdiana (ancient Panjakent) and Ushrusana (Kurkat dakhmaks). © 2023. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license

Introduction. In February 2020, the third season of the Russian-Indian Anthropological expedition was conducted in Maharashtra. The field work was coordinated by Paleoethnology Research Center (Russia) and Department of Anthropology of Savitribai Phule Pune University (India). The goal was to examine Korku people, who are members of the Mundo-speaking branch of the Austroasiatic family.

Data and methods. A total of 293 people were examined from three different Amravati district locations. The sociological questionnaire indicated that 285 individuals were members of the Korku, of which 196 individuals were children and teenagers (95 male, 101 female) and 89 individuals were older than 17 years (58 male, 31 female). Following the traditions of the Russian anthropological school, the study of Korku was conducted using as many morphological techniques as possible, including the collection of data on somatometry, cephalometry, cephaloscopy, dental anthropology, dermatoglyphics, and anthropological photo. All data was collected according to the law protecting personal data and the principles of bioethics.

Results and discussion. Korku people tend to have dark pigmentation of the eyes, hair and skin, and soft, wavy hair. Males are orthognathic in the vertical profile of the face, females are mesognathic. Horizontal profiling in both sexes is characterized by average values. The lateral profile of the nasal bridge is flattened, the eye gap is of medium width and has horizontal orientation, while epicanthus is rare. According to the head index, males are mesocephalic with a tendency to subbrachycephaly, the proportions of the face and nose are characterized by average values. Women are also mesocephalic, relatively leptorineic. According to somatometric indicators, males have an average body length (164.4 cm). According to the proportions of the body, males and females are brachymorphic. The body length and chest circumference of children increases smoothly with age. The same growth curve is typical for body weight with a slight jump in the transition from 10–11 y.o. to 12–14 y.o. Composite portraits of Korku males and females were compiled in three standard norms. Dermatoglyphics and dental anthropology data are still being analyzed.

Conclusion. The Russian-Indian Anthropological Expedition examined the Korku people using an integrated anthropological approach during the 2020 field season. The Korku's somatometric, cephalometric, and cephaloscopic characteristics were acquired and presented for the first time. © 2024. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license