Moscow University
Anthropology
Bulletin
Anthropology
Bulletin
1) Lomonosov Moscow State University, Anuchin Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Mokhovaya st., 11, Moscow, 125009, Russia; 2) Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University “LETI”, Department of Electronic Instruments and Devices, Prof. Popova st., 5/5, St.-Petersburg, 197376, Russia; 3) Center of Restoration and Conservation of Historical Monuments, Department of Archaeological Research, Glebuchev Ovrag st., 492, Saratov, 410003, Russia
Evteev Andrej Alekseevich, PhD; ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6254-1203; evteandr@gmail.com; Staroverov Nikolay Evgenievich; ORCID ID: 0000-0002-4404-5222; nik0205st@mail.ru; Volkov Vladimir Aleksandrovich, PhD; ano_niz@mail.ru; Vyskubov Stanislav Pavlovich, PhD; ano_niz@mail.ru; Potrakhov Nikolay Nikolaevich, professor, PhD, D. Sc.; ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8806-0603; kzhamova@gmail.com.
Materials and methods. This study focuses on a comparative analysis of a cranial sample of the Volga Germans from the Pfeifer colony (Saratov oblast). Craniometric data on three reference samples of the German-speaking population are reported as well: from Wurttemberg (XVI-XIX cc AD), Tubingen (first half of the XX c AD) and Zellerndorf in lowland Austria (XV-XVIII вв.). The WorldPCA software was for the first time employed for intra- and intergroup analyses of the data. Results. Males from the sample from Pfeifer represent a Caucasoid cranial morphology with moderately enlarged vault and facial skeleton. Females of the sample display a fairly different morphological pattern. The results of the intragroup analysis show that single individuals exhibiting Mongoloid craniofacial features are found among male skulls of all the German samples except Tubingen. Individuals with large transversal and sagittal dimensions of the facial skeleton comprise a substantial part of all the samples. Such skulls do not display a flattening of the face but demonstrate an increased nasal index. In general, the shape of the facial skeleton varies broadly in the German samples and none particular morphological pattern is prevalent. Discussion. The results of the intergroup comparisons have shown that the 20th-century population of Pfeifer clearly retained the cranial morphology of their ancestors from southwest Germany. But the sample from Pfeifer displays a higher similarity to the Modern Time German samples from Wurttemberg and Zellerndorf rather than to the modern one from Tubingen. It can be thus hypothesized that reproductively and culturally isolated Volga Germans preserved the features typical of the Germans of previous centuries.
anthropology; Volga Germans; cranial metrics; intragroup variation
DOI: 10.32521/2074-8132.2020.3.090-104
Цит.: Evteev A.A., Staroverov N.E., Volkov V.A., Vyskubov S.P., Potrakhov N.N. Metric analysis of cranial samples of the German-speaking population of the Middle Volga, southwest Germany and eastern Austria // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2020; 3/2020; с. 90-104
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