Chirkova Alina Kharisovna

Introduction. The article considers the processes of identity manifestation and construction of the Beja people on the Internet.

Materials and methods. The study was carried out as part of an interdisciplinary research of the history, anthropology, geology, and ethnography of the Atbay region in northeastern Sudan, initiated by Lomonosov Moscow State University. The authors emphasize the importance of the online space for the identity manifestation of stateless cultures. The analysis of online sources is preceded by a consideration of the historical conditions and special traits of Beja self-perception. Comments from YouTube video hosting users on videos dedicated to the history and culture of the Beja people are involved as sources for the study.

Results and discussion. As a result of their analysis, four main patterns of Beja identity are determined: supra-ethnic cooperation with the “Arab world”; the association of Beja with the "pancushitic" community; and "ethnic identity" limited by the boundaries of the Beja community itself. The authors conclude that the Beja identity on the Internet is constructed in two dimensions: "global" and "local". The "global" level is represented by mainly the African diaspora, the "local" one – by Internet resources that are used by residents of the East African region. The findings made in the online study are compared with the ethnographic materials collected by the authors in Atbay region among the Beja Bishariin, physical anthropology data and historical evidence. Some excerpts from an interview with Mr. Onur, who comes from the Beja Ertega tribe (acted as Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Sudan to the Russian Federation until 2022) are also included in analysis.

Conclusion. As a result of comparing all types of data, the authors conclude that the Beja identity exhibits a high degree of lability. It is suggested that the reasons for such lability may be related to the historical conditions of the Beja ethnogenesis on the periphery of ancient civilizations and to the significant heterogeneity of the historical population of the Eastern Desert in all the historical periods under consideration. © 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

Introduction. Paleoanthropological studies of Medieval North African materials are extremely few. Despite the large number of international expeditions working in the region, very few results of craniometric and osteometric data are presented. This is partly due to the loss of practical measurement skills in European anthropological schools in the second half of the 20th century, partly due to the difficulties of studying the graves of the Islamic period. Several seasons of work of the Nubian Archaeological and Anthropological Expedition of the Research Institute and the Museum of Anthropology of Lomonosov Moscow State University on the Southern Necropolis of the medieval site Derakheyb (Republic of Sudan) were devoted to the study of this population. The purpose of the publication is characteristics of the medieval population buried in the Southern Necropolis of the Derakheyb site due to osteological features and introducing the new data.

Materials and methods. The material is the bones of the postcranial skeleton of adult individuals (14 men and 9 women). The technique corresponds to the classical program in the modification of V.P. Alekseev (a total of 74 signs and 16 pointers). The reconstruction of the body length was carried out, the total body dimensions were described, and the proportion indicators were calculated. For intra-group analysis, the principal component method was used, which was carried out using individual data using the R language.

Results and discussion. The male population is characterized by average total body size and shoulder width, while the female series is relatively narrow-shouldered. In the male series, the distal parts of the arms and legs are elongated relative to the proximal ones, and the lower limbs are elongated relative to the upper ones. The women's series featured a more graceful physique. The distal part of the leg is elongated relative to the proximal one, as in the male group; there is also some shortening of the upper limbs relative to the lower ones. Body length varies between 166 cm for men and 156 cm for women.

Conclusion. According to osteometry data, the medieval population of the city of Derakheyb can be characterized as heterogeneous, the individuals that stand out mainly correspond to those that stood out according to craniological data. The male part of the population is medium-massive, and the female part is graceful. The entire sample is characterized by shortened lower limbs relative to the arms, as well as elongated distal parts of the arms and legs relative to the proximal ones, which reflects one of the features of the tropical adaptive type. © 2024. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license

 

Introduction. A valuable source of anthropological information is the so-called composite portrait, which creates an idea of the «average» type of a particular population group. A composite portrait is a kind of cognitive tool that allows the visualization of the integral morphological characteristics of the variability of the face and elements of appearance. This article is devoted to a comparative analysis of two methods of creating composite photographic portraits.

Materials and methods. The material for the study was photographs of Santal women (N=64), from which composite portraits were generated in two different ways: 1) using two fixed points in Adobe Photoshop; 2) by three points in the faceONface computer program, developed specifically for creating generalized portraits.

Results and discussion. In a composite photograph obtained by the classical method of F. Galton by combining photographs at two pupillary points, the upper half of the face is recorded more clearly in the eye area, but the lower tier of the face remains fuzzy and blurry. When using the third, oral point, we get a clearer picture in the mouth area without losing clarity in the eye area. At the same time, constructing a composite portrait using two fixed points creates an image that reflects the entire range of variability in facial height in the population, and when using three points, facial height is averaged.

Conclusion. Unlike a composite portrait obtained by the classical method, combining photographs at three points gives a more attractive image, but at the same time we lose the opportunity to capture the large range of variability in facial height. However, both portrait fusion methods create a developed model that can be used by researchers, museum staff, forensic scientists among others. © 2025. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license

Introduction. The research is devoted to the study of an archival photographs' collection of the Tungus and Orochons of the late 19th – early 20th centuries, stored in the collections of Anuchin Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology. In this article some photographs from the collection are published for the first time. In the work examines the possibilities of using archival photographic materials of the Tungus and Orochons to obtain a composite photographic portrait, and its comparison with composite photographic portraits of the modern Evenks.

Materials and methods. The material for the study was a collection of photographs of the Tungus and Orochons, collected at the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries, which is currently stored in the funds of the Anuchin Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology of Lomonosov Moscow State University. Moreover, to the photographs examined in the collections of the Museum of Anthropology, supplementary sources of archival photographs were used to create a composite portrait. A composite portrait of increased clarity was obtained using the faceONface software (combining images at three reference points). A comparative analysis of composite portraits obtained from archival and modern photographs was carried out.

Results and discussion. As a result of a comparative analysis of composite portraits of young and mature Tungus, constructed from archival materials, their significant similarity was revealed. Similarities were also noted between the portrait of the Tungus, obtained from archival data, and the portrait of modern Amur Evenks.

Conclusion. As a result of the analysis of the archival photo collection, the places of origin of some photographs were clarified, and new persons who participated in the creation of the photo collection were discovered. Based on the results of this study, it was shown that the composite photographic portrait method turned out to be the most correct tool for extracting anthropological information from archival photographic materials. © 2025. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Introduction. The study presents an osteometric analysis of the postcranial skeleton from the Medieval population of Deraheib (Sudan, 9th-11th centuries CE), identified with the gold-mining and trading center of Al-Allaqi. The research aims to integrate morphological characteristics of the series into existing datasets and contextualize Deraheib's population against earlier and contemporaneous groups from North/South Africa and Southern Europe.

Materials and methods. The study examined skeletal remains of 23 adults (14 males, 9 females) from Muslim burials at the Southern Necropolis. A standard osteometric protocol (74 measurements) focused on limb proportions. Comparative analysis included 15 series from North/South Africa and Southern Europe using multivariate statistics (canonical discriminant analysis, decision trees).

Results and discussion. The Deraheib series occupies an intermediate morphological position among Northeast African groups. Lower limb proportions show affinities with Egyptian series and one Lower Nubian group (Sayala), featuring relatively elongated tibiae. Upper limb characteristics align with Upper Nubian (Kerma) and Egyptian (Deir el-Banat) groups, displaying developed distal segments. Females particularly resemble the Sayala series in maximal tibiofemoral indices. Multivariate analysis indicates closest similarity with Deir el-Banat.

Conclusion. The research reveals complex biological diversity in the region, demonstrating both geographical patterning (distinct Nubian, Sudanese, Egyptian clusters) and population-specific traits. Observed morphological variation likely resulted from local ecological adaptation, ethnic cultural practices, and intensive migration at this trade route crossroads.

Funding. This work was done with the support of MSU Program of Development, Project No 23-SCH02-22 (agreement number 004179) NOSH MSU Preservation of world cultural and historical heritage “History, anthropology and ethnology of Northeast Africa in the context of environmental changes over the last 13 thousand years (experience of interdisciplinary research)”.

Acknowledgements. The authors would like to express their gratitude to the director of the Research Institute and the Museum of Anthropology of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dr. A.P. Buzhilova, as well as to the Paleoethnology Research Center, and personally to the deputy director for science of the Paleoethnology Research Center, Ph.D. D.V. Pezhemsky for their help in organizing the expedition and for valuable recommendations and comments.

Introduction. This article examines a trepanation hole identified during the study of a collection of skulls of Early Nomads from the Southern Urals housed in the craniological repository of the Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Lomonosov Moscow State University. The skull comes from kurgan 20 of the Novyi Kumak burial ground located in the Orenburg Region. The burial dates to the 4th century BC and belongs to the Early Sarmatian period. The aim of this study is to introduce into scholarly circulation a new case of trepanation and to determine the circumstances and possible reasons for the intervention recorded on the skull of an Early Nomad.

Materials and methods. The article considers the archaeological context in which the trepanned skull was discovered at the Novyi Kumak burial ground. Sex and age were assessed on the basis of the morphological features of the skull. A description of the skull and the dentition is provided. The trepanation was described according to the method proposed by M.B. Mednikova. Differential diagnosis was based on macroscopic examination and photographic documentation.

Results and discussion. It was established that an antemortem trauma was present on the skull of a male over 55 years of age, and that a perimortem or postmortem trepanation was later performed at the site of this trauma. In the search for possible reasons for such interventions, various interpretations of trepanations recorded on the skulls of ancient populations of the Early Iron Age in Central and Middle Asia, as well as Southern and Western Siberia, were considered.

Conclusion. The burial from the Novyi Kumak burial ground may be characterized as that of representatives of the nomadic elite. The trepanation in this case appears to have been associated with postmortem manipulations carried out during the preparation of the body for burial. This practice may reflect the influence of traditions that reached the Southern Ural steppes from the east, which is also supported by archaeological data.

Acknowledgements. The authors would like to express their gratitude to the director of the Research Institute and the Museum of Anthropology of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dr. A.P. Buzhilova for the opportunity to study a series of skulls of early nomads of the Southern Urals, as well as to the fellows of the Research Institute and the Museum of Anthropology of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Ph.D. N.Ya. Berezina and Ph.D. D.V. Pezhemsky for their valuable advice and recommendations.

Research was carried out under partial support of the MSU Shared Research Equipment Center «Technologies for obtaining new nanostructured materials and their complex study», National Project «Science» and the MSU Program of Development.

Funding. The study was funded by the Russian Science Foundation Grant No. 25-28-20201, Professional specialization in the Early Iron Age nomadic societies of the Southern Urals during the 7th-3rd centuries BC, https://rscf.ru/project/25-28-20201/