Anthropology of Tankeevka Burial Ground: craniological analysis of new and previous materials

The paper analyzes the anthropological materials of Tankeevka burial ground (9th–10th centuries A.D.) obtained throughout the entire study period. A total of 61 male and 56 female skulls were studied on the basis of the craniological program. In terms of craniometry, the male and female skulls are generally characterized by the meso-brachicranal shape of the head, the mesomorphic type of the face with moderate profiling at all levels, and by the average nose protrusion angle. In terms of anthropology, the series is Caucasian, but features an inclusion of a minor fraction of the Mongoloid component. An intragroup analysis of the series revealed several craniocomplexes in its composition mainly varying by the shape of the cranium and the manifestation degree of Caucasian features. A comparative intergroup analysis of the male series dating back to the turn of epochs and the early Middle Ages demonstrated that the formation of anthropological features of the Tankeevka population could have been established with the involvement of the “local” groups of the Volga-Ural genesis, as well as the “alien” groups of the Southern and South-Western origin.