Moscow University
Anthropology
Bulletin
Anthropology
Bulletin
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Anuchin Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Mokhovaya st., 11, Moscow, 125009, Russia
Maurer Andrey Markovich, PhD.; ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2607-1558; foto-rer@yandex.ru
Introduction. Illustrations in modern anthropological textbooks are insufficient, incomplete. Therefore, the heterogeneity and polytypes of certain ethno-national assemblages, in particular, the Bashkirs, require a more detailed, typological approach when choosing illustrative material. Purpose of the study: using both population-typological and traditional-typological means to create composite high-definition photographic portraits that visualize ethno-territorial variability in human populations. The work was carried out on the example of the Bashkir ethno-national community. Materials and methods. Based on individual images of Bashkir men from literary sources (early 20th century) and on the basis of our own photographs of the end of the 20th century, composite photographic portraits (full-face, in profile) were compiled using the "FaceOnFace" computer program. Based on the high similarity of composite photographic portraits, two samples (from the beginning and the end of the 20th century) of initial photographs of Bashkir men were combined into a single corpus (N = 85). Individual photographs corresponding to the descriptions of the South Siberian (N = 40) and Ural (N = 20) minor races were selected from the combined sample of photographs of Bashkir men of the 20th century. Results and discussion. Based on these two subsamples, using digital technologies, 2 pairs of high-precision male composite photographic portraits (full-face and in profile) of Bashkir men were created. They represent the two racial variants prevailing in the region. One pair of photo-generalizations characterizes the softened South Siberian (N = 40), and the other, the sub-Ural (N = 20) anthropological variants. All profile composite photographic portraits of the Bashkirs were obtained for the first time. The phantom image obtained by the method is mentally compared with a certain generalized idea of a particular anthropological version of the known racial classifications. Due to the authorial nature of the various racial classifications, the subjective choice of the «typical», «most characteristic» person (or a short series of faces), presented as an illustration, is also inevitable. Conclusion. The resulting photographic portraits are no less recognizable than the illustrations given in anthropology textbooks: two clearly distinguishable anthropologically variants are visualized that occur in Bashkir populations. This result confirms the deeply entrenched opinion of anthropologists about the heterogeneity and population polytypes of the Bashkir ethno-national community. Both population-typological composite photographic portraits of an ethnic group and a typological digital high precision quality composite portrait, which achieves the effect of "personalization" of a phantom image, are cognitive tools that allow one to assess the biological reality of the existence of human populations with biologically meaningful (adequate) visual means. It is necessary to seek visual means that are isomorphic to the nature of a living, lasting composite.
human biology; composite photographic portrait; signs of appearance; recognizability; Bashkir men
DOI: 10.32521/2074-8132.2021.3.005-016
Цит.: Maurer A.M. Composite photographic portrait as a tool for visualizing local anthropological variants (using the example of Bashkir men photographic materials) // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2021; 3/2021; с. 5-16 (Published: September 14, 2021)
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