Leybova Natalya Aleksandrovna

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. The goal of the article is to compare different algorithms for calculating the frequencies of dental nonmetric traits.

Materials and methods. The experiment was conducted on the materials of a modern group of Tuvinians (Eastern Siberia), the sample size 135 individuals. The frequencies of 11 traits have been calculated using several methods common for paleophenetic studies. The obtained values were tested using a 2-tailed exact Fisher criterion.

Results. It has been established that the frequencies of traits obtained by different methods are in good agreement with each other. The exception is the increased values obtained with one of the calculation options «per individual»: namely, when the calculation includes cases of the presence of only one tooth, the anti-mere, on which the feature is only positive. In addition, two sample size 25 and 10 observations were randomly generated from individuals who possess the trait on both sides. The frequencies in the sample size 25 individuals turned out to be stable, and the data are in good agreement with the full series, regardless of the method of calculation. A sample of 10 individuals does not agree with the characteristics of the full series.

Discussion. It is most preferable to calculate the frequencies «per individual» when observation is possible from both sides, but this is problematic with a small group of fragmentary materials. For small series, an individual calculation is applicable, when the feature can be observed on both or on one of the sides (all cases are taken into account, regardless of the presence of the trait). The results obtained are valid for a specific series and traits. This work begins a series of articles on feature calculating methods in dental anthropology. © 2025. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license