Moscow University
Anthropology
Bulletin
Anthropology
Bulletin
1) Federal state budgetary scientific Institution «Research Centre for Medical Genetics» Moscow ; 2) Municipal Budgetary Health Care setting «Habezskaya central district hospital», Habez, Karachai-Cherkess Republic ; 3) Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow
El’chinova Galina Iv., Ph.D., D.Sc., ORCID ID: 0000-0003-3665-982X, e-mail: elchinova@med-gen.ru; Makaov A., e-mail: makaov@yandex.ru; Zinchenko Rena Ab., Ph.D., D.Sc., prof., ORCID ID: 0000-0003-3586-3458, e-mail: renazinchenko@mail.ru
The study of the Circassians is a part of a routine complex health-population genetic survey of the Karachay-Cherkessia population, conducted by the staff of the laboratory of genetic epidemiology, Research Centre for Medical Genetics, since 2013. Similar studies have been run over three decades in various regions of Russia in accordance with the Protocol, developed in the laboratory. Circassians (selfe-designation – Adyghe) is one of the titular nations of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, one of the oldest ethnic groups on Earth. Circassians live densely in the Khabezsky region of Karachay-Cherkessia. The population of the Khabezsky area includes more than 30 thousand people. Circassians amount to more than 95% of this population. Surnames are a convenient population-genetic marker of non-biological origin, allowing to estimate some population genetic structure parameters. Surnames were used successfully to describe the Adyghes and Abazins, related to the Circassians. In our studies surnames are traditionally copied from the lists of electors, i.e. we have total sample of adult population surnames. Since a child usually has one of the parents’ surname, we assume that the surnames have been gathered totally. 968 surnames are registered in the Khabezsky area, of which 222 are frequent (frequency exceeds 0.1% in the area). Frequent surnames cover 86,2% of the district population. Surnames with frequency exceeding 1% in the region amount to only 13 units, they cover more than 18% of the population in the Khabezsky area. The most prevalent surname is Kardanov, the frequency of this surname in the district is 2,8%. We found a definite territorial associations of some surnames. Thus, in the village of Malyi Zelenchuk almost a quarter of the population is Bratovi. Linear correlation between the matrix of surname distances and the matrix of physical distances, which elements are the square root values of their geographical distances between the villages, is positive and significant (r=0,40±0,14). We have compiled and analyzed a chart of the surname landscape. The Wright’s values of random inbreeding for rural communities and for the region as a whole are calculated. The highest random inbreeding value is in the village of Malyi Zelenchuk (0,0237), the lowest is in Bavucovsky rural settlement (0,0039), consisting of two villages (Bavuco and Novokhumarinsky), where the proportion of the Circassians do not exceed 70%. For the whole Khabezsky area the random inbreeding value is 0,0015. While calculating Barrai’s parameters it turned out that the maximum and minimum values of all these parameters were observed in Malyi Zelenchuk and Bavucovsky rural settlement.
Circassians, surname distribution, random inbreeding, Barrai’s parameters
Цит.: Еl’chinоvа G.I., Makaov A. Kh.-M., Zinchеnkо R.А. Distribution of the Circassian surnames // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2016; 2/2016; с. 115-120
Download text