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5. Cranial non-metric traits in a sample from Alexeevskoe Gorodishe Golden Horde burial ground (Saratov)

Cranial non-metric traits in a sample from Alexeevskoe Gorodishe Golden Horde burial ground (Saratov)

Kufterin V.V., Novozhilova M.V.

M. Akmullah Bashkir State Pedagogical University, Ufa

Abstract

The Alexeevskoe Gorodishe medieval burial ground in Saratov (Lower Volga) is dated to the XIII–XIV c. AD. The burials are associated with the Christians of the Golden Horde. In this study, the frequencies of 36 cranial non-metric traits were scored in a sample of 27 skulls unearthed during 1998–2000 excavations. Radians and fluctuating asymmetry indices were calculated for the traits. An intergroup comparison with 19 reference samples was carried out using cluster and correspondence analyses. Our results have shown the sample from Boldyrevka, a contemporary burial ground from Saratov, to be the closest to the sample from Alexeevskoe Gorodishe. Both samples were shown to be quite distinct from the cluster of Eastern Slavonic samples. On the one hand, this result can reflect the mixed ancestry of both populations and, on the other hand, a certain similarity of their origins. Our findings concur, to an extent, with the results of previous craniometric studies and support suggestions that the Bulgars could genetically contribute to the population studied, along with ancient Eastern Slavs. The latter thesis, however, requires verification on more comparative material which is planned in future research.

Keywords

craniology, cranial phenetics, non-metric traits, Saratov Volga region, Golden Horde, Alexeevskoe Gorodishe

Цит.: Kufterin V.V., Novozhilova M.V. Cranial non-metric traits in a sample from Alexeevskoe Gorodishe Golden Horde burial ground (Saratov) // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2017; 2/2017; с. 84-93