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5. The population of Western Mongolia: anthropometric study of Torguts and Derbet

The population of Western Mongolia: anthropometric study of Torguts and Derbet

Khomyakova I.A. (1), Balinova Natalia.V. (2)

1) Lomonosov Moscow State University, Anuchin Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Mokhovaya st., 11, Moscow, 125009, Russia; 2) Federal state budgetary institution «Research Centre for Medical Genetics», Moskvorechie st., 1, Moscow, 115522, Russia

Khomyakova I.A., assistant prof., Ph.D., ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2811-2034, e-mail: irina-khomyakova@yandex.ru; Balinova Natalia.V., Ph.D., ORCID ID: 0000-0001-9493-6544, e-mail: balinovs@mail.ru

Abstract

This study undertakes a comparative analysis of anthropometric data of two ethnic groups, Torghuts and Derbets, collected during the 2015 expedition to Khovd and Uvs Aimags in Western Mongolia. When collecting the material, we took account of tribal affiliation of the respondents up to the third generation. To undertake a comparative analysis of morphological features of Torghuts and Derbets in the context of epochal variability, we used the data of D. Tumen (1983–1989) and data on a group of Derbet females of Mongolia [Antropoekologiya Centralnoy Asii, 2005]. Anthropometric survey was carried out using standard methods [Bunak, 1941]. The program included measurement of longitudinal and transverse body dimensions, body and fat (skinfold) girths, head and face measurements. A series of indices was calculated to describe body proportions and head and face shapes. No significant differences were found between the samples of modern Torghuts and Derbets for most morphological parameters describing body measurements and shape. Age variability in Torghut and Derbet groups is mainly related to increasing girth and fat (skinfold) dimensions. When comparing samples of Derbet females examined at different times with an interval of 25 years, significant time shifts were observed in body length and weight, leg length and other dimensions. Secular variation in body length, head and face sizes was analyzed in the samples of Torghuts and Derbets surveyed in 1983-86 and 2015. Both male and female modern Torghuts and Derbets are characterized by increased body length, longitudinal head diameter, physiognomic facial height and some other dimensions. A significant decrease in cephalic index in male and female Derbets and female Torghuts is observed.

Keywords

human morphology, somatology, ethnic anthropology, anthropometry, Torghuts, Derbets, epochal changes, age changes

Цит.: Khomyakova I.A., Balinova Natalia.V. The population of Western Mongolia: anthropometric study of Torguts and Derbet // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2016; 4/2016; с. 14-26