Moscow University
Anthropology
Bulletin
Anthropology
Bulletin
Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
Bulygina (Stansfield) Ekaterina, e-mail: ebulygin@yahoo.com; Pezhemsky Denis, e-mail: pezhemsky@yandex.ru; Rasskazova Anna, e-mail: ateh@rambler.ru.
We carried out a morphometric analysis of cranial vault and upper face in Mesolithic populations of Eastern Europe (Oleniy Ostrov, Zvejnieki, Popovo, Peschanitsa, Vasilievka III, Murzak-Koba, Fatma-Koba). A comparison was made with a newly discovered cranium from Lokomotiv (R-8), Irkutsk, Eastern Siberia. The total number of individuals is 36. Our methods included 3D geometric morphometrics as well as conventional distances. Measurements were taken according to R. Martin. Data were subjected to the principal component analysis. We examined trends of similarity in the neurocranial and upper facial morphology among these individuals. The structure of the upper face is determined by how flat the region immediately below the brow ridges is. Upper facial flatness is usually regarded as a feature differentiating Asian Mongoloids from other populations of the world. However, V. Yakimov (1957, 1960) described the same feature among Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic people of Europe. Given that the most ancient individuals from Siberia do not have exceptionally flat upper faces, this characteristic can no longer be regarded as specifically Mongoloid, in keeping with Yakimov’s view. Lokomotiv-R-8 cranium was found in 1995. So far this is the earliest complete human skull from Northern Asia, dating to the 7th millennium BC (8690±120 cal. BP, TO-10507). It has very pronounced ‘Asian’ features in its frontal bone structure. Hence, its comparison with other ancient individuals from Eastern Europe is especially interesting. Results of our multivariate statistical analysis differentiate individuals with short parietals, short and wide braincase, narrow forehead and large naso-malar angle from those with the opposite trait combination. Although Lokomotiv-R-8 fits within the range of variation of Mesolithic individuals from Eastern Europe, its large naso-malar angle separates it from the rest of the sample in some of the analyses. Surprisingly, Lokomotiv-R-8 reveals affinities with Oleniy Ostrov individuals, whose geographical position is the most distant from Lokomotiv-R-8 within the research area. In conclusion, our results show that upper facial flatness, which is marked among modern Mongoloids, appears among some of the earliest individuals from Russia and Eastern Siberia. However, the patchy geographical distribution of this feature precludes any inferences about its origin and evolution. The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research; Grant # 13-06-00045a
cranial morphology, craniometry, 3D-morphometry, Mesolithic populations
Цит.: Bulygina Ekaterina, Pezhemsky Denis, Rasskazova Anna CRANIAL VAULT MORPHOLOGY OF EASTERN EUROPEAN AND EASTERN SIBERIAN MESOLITHIC POPULATIONS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2014; 3/2014; с. 88-89
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