Lazarev Michail Nikolaevich

Introduction. The article is dedicated to a comprehensive study of a male mummy from the Egyptological collection of the Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology of the Lomonosov Moscow State University.

Materials and methods. The mummy of a male stripped of its funerary bandages and shrouds, was donated by Professor A.I. Babukhin in 1876 to D.N. Anuchin, the museum’s founder. Since 2016, the mummy has been the object of detailed studies conducted by the Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology of the Lomonosov MSU. The study employed the methodologies of diverse scientific disciplines: anthropological study based on computer tomography data, textile analysis, radiocarbon dating, gas chromatography and mass-spectrometry studies, archeopalynological investigation etc.

Results and discussion. A facial reconstruction and a craniological and osteological description of the mummy were produced using computed tomography (CT) data. The interdisciplinary studies have revealed the specific features of the mummification method, which was characteristic of the Late New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period, but also continued in later periods. The chromatographic analysis of the skin samples revealed a complex mix of embalming agents, one of which was pine resin. This is consistent with data obtained by spore-pollen analysis. The technological characteristics of the burial textiles preserved on the mummy were also studied. The age of the mummy could be determined through radiocarbon dating as 3,080 ± 35 BP (2σ 1426–1259 cal BC), indicating that the individual in question lived during the Eighteenth – first half of the Nineteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom.

Funding. his article was written with the support of the Lomonosov MSU Program of Development. Project No 23 Sch 02-22 "Hystory, anthropology and ethnology of the North-Eastern Africa in context of Ecological Changes during last 13 millenia. Interdisciplinary Research" Archeopalynological investigations were carried out within the framework of the issue Scientific Research Work of the Institute of Archaeology RAS “Interdisciplinary Approaches to Studying the Formation and Development of Ancient and Medieval Anthropogenic Ecosystems” (No. of R&D 122011200264-9). The textile studies were carried out within the framework of RSF grant ‘A comprehensive study of archaeological textile and pottery using natural science techniques, based on the findings of the Nubian expedition conducted by Moscow State University’ (№ 25-28-01025)

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).