More than 80 skulls were examined to reveal cranioscopic features of the carriers of the Andronovo culture of Altai during the Advanced Bronze Age. In parallel, two alternative methodological approaches were used: one is represented by the program of Tsunehiko Hanihara, Hajime Ishida, and the other by the program of A. G. Kozintsev. For the inter-group comparison, correspondence analysis and the S. Smith average divergence measure (MMD) were used. The results obtained using two methodological approaches are similar. Both sets of traits more or less reflect the genetic influence of southern Caucasians. This coincides with the data of odontological research and differs from the results of craniometric analysis of the group under consideration, which, apparently, is due to its mestizo origin.

Key words: cranioscopy, Bronze Age, Andronovo culture, Altai.

Introduction

Cranioscopic (discrete-variable, or nonmetric) features, which represent anatomical variations in the skull structure that are recorded according to the "presence-absence" principle, are an important source of information when studying the origin and ethnogenetic relationships of paleopopulations. Analysis of the cranioscopic features of the carriers of the Altai Andronovo culture will allow us to independently verify contradictory hypotheses based on craniometric data regarding the direction of genetic relationships of the Altai Andronovo people [Dremov, 1997, p.94-96; Solodovnikov, 2005, p. 132-135, 139; Kozintsev, 2008, p. 143].

Material and methods

Craniological materials of the Andronovo culture (more than 80 adult skulls) from the burial grounds Firsovo-14 (44)*, Chekanovsky Log-2 and -10 (14), Eluninsky-2 (5), Gilevo (4), Marinka (4), Berezovsky (4), Podturino (2) were studied. Badger (1), Near Elbany-16 (1), Pavlovka (1), Steppe Chumysh (1). In parallel, two methodological approaches were used, one of which is practiced by Japanese anthropologists [Hanihara and Ishida, 2001a-e; Hanihara et al., 2003], the other by the St. Petersburg School of Russian Anthropology. anthropologists (Kozintsev, 1988; Kozintsev, 1992). The differences between them relate not only to the choice of features, but also to the method of calculating the frequency of occurrence. The range of comparative materials also differs.

The cranioscopic program of Tsunehiko Hanihara, Hajime Ishida includes the following signs: metopic suture, supraorbital opening, additional suborbital opening, posteroscullar suture,

The work was supported by the federal target program "Scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel of innovative Russia", the project "Comprehensive historical research in the field of studying Western and Southern Siberia from ancient times to the present" (2009 - 1.1 - 301 - 072 - 016).

* The number of skulls is shown in parentheses.

insertion bone of the lambda and asterion, vormian bones of the occipitomastoid suture and parietal notch of the temporal bone, traces of germinal sutures of the occipital bone, fusion of the oval and spinous foramina, hole in the tympanic plate, pre-condylar tubercles, third condyle, separation by the septum of the jugular opening, separation by the septum of the hyoid nerve canal, condylar canal open into the cranial cavity, medial palatine canal, additional chin opening, maxillohyoid canal, ear exostoses. The differentiation of 70 ethnoterritorial groups from different regions of the world based on the totality of these characteristics generally corresponds to their differentiation by genetic markers, DNA polymorphism, and craniometric data [Hanihara et al., 2003, p. 241]. Of the 20 listed signs, 19 were used in this study, with the exception of ear exostoses.

The cranioscopic program developed by A. G. Kozintsev (1988; Kozintsev, 1992) includes six features of high taxonomic significance that differentiate Caucasians and Mongoloids or have clinal variability in the north-south direction. These are the occipital index (ZI), posterolecular suture (ZSS), supraorbital opening (NO), transverse palatine suture index (IPNSI), sphenoid-maxillary suture (CWS), and suborbital pattern type II (PTU II). Of these, only two (ZSS and NO) coincide with the characteristics of the program of Tsunehiko Hanihara, Hajime Ishida.

Registration of signs was carried out according to the methodological guidelines set out in the relevant manuals [Kozintsev, 1988; Hauser and De Stefano, 1989; Dodo, 1986, p. 156-164; Hanihara and Ishida, 2001a, p. 140, 143-144; 2001b, p. 690; 2001c, p. 708-709; 2001d, p. 252; 2001e, p. 274; Kozintsev, 1992]. Paired features were recorded on both sides of the skull. The frequency of occurrence of features of the first program was calculated "per cranium", i.e., a feature was marked as present if it was recorded on at least one side of the skull [Hanihara et al., 2003, p. 244]. Incomplete skulls with only one side available for observation were also taken into account. This method of maximizing the number of observations is often used in odontological studies of fragmented skeletal series [Scott and Turner II, 1997, p. 103-105]. Its use is justified by the fact that the bilateral asymmetry that occurs in the distribution of some discrete-varying features usually has a fluctuating character. The frequency of occurrence of features of the second program was calculated "per side", i.e. the number of parties where the feature was present was divided by the total number of parties on which it could be determined [Kozintsev, 1980, p. 86-87; 1988, p. 15]. Two frequency variants were calculated for the two features (ZSS and NO) included in both programs, respectively.

Male and female skulls were analyzed together. Although sexual dimorphism in the distribution of discretely varying traits, as a rule, does not have a definite orientation, some of them are steadily more common in only one of the sexes. The unweighted average value of the male and female subgroups was used to characterize the combined group on the basis of EHF, the frequency of which is significantly higher in men than in women [Kozintsev, 1988, p. 52]. In all other cases, weighted averages were calculated.

The following materials were used for comparison.

I. According to the program of 19 attributes:

a) contemporary groups: Eastern, Southern and Northwestern India, Afghanistan, Israel, Eastern Europe (Poland, Czech Republic, Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia), Italy, Finland, Scandinavia (Norway and Sweden), Germany, France, Great Britain, the Amur Basin, as well as Turkish groups (Cyprus), Greeks, Russians (Sebezh), Kazakhs, Japanese, Northern Chinese, Mongols, Buryats, Yakuts, Chukchi, Aleuts, Asian Eskimos, Greenlandic Eskimos [Hanihara and Ishida, 2001b, p. 704-705; 2001c, p. 723-724; 2001d, p. 270-271; 2001e, p. 285-286];

b) ancient craniological series: Neolithic of the Baikal region, Tagar culture, Ekvensky burial ground (Old Eskimo), Early Iron and Middle Ages from the territory of Great Britain [Ibid.].

II. According to the program of six attributes:

a) contemporary groups: Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Karelians, Finns, Ingush, Chechens, Adygeans, Abkhazians, Ossetians, Armenians, Turks, Bulgarians, Italians [Kozintsev, 1988, Table 3, p. 29; Table 7, p. 54; table 8, p. 60; table 12, p. 84; Table 15, p. 103; Kozintsev, 1992].

b) the ancient craniological series: the Eneolithic of Turkmenistan (Kozintsev, 1988, Table 24, p. 151), the Afanasyev culture of the Gorny Altai and Minusinsk Basin (in total), the Andronovo culture of the Minusinsk Basin, as well as the Northern, Central and Eastern Kazakhstan (mainly of the Alakul type) (Gromov, 1997, Table 1, p. 151). 296-297].

When studying the variability of features, we used correspondence analysis , a variant of principal component analysis for qualitative features (STATISTICA), in which the basis for selecting components instead of a matrix of pairwise correlations of features is a matrix of values χ ², reflecting the magnitude of their pairwise differences.

"Bio-distances" between craniological series were determined by the C. A. B. Smith's mean measure of divergence MMD (Harris and Sjovold, 2004). Multidimensional scaling was used to visualize MMD distances. At the same time, negative values were not reduced to zero [Kozintsev, 1980, p. 92; Harris and Sjovold, 2004, p. 91].

Results and discussion

The cranioscopic characteristics of the studied Andronovo culture series are shown in Table 1.

The overall picture of differentiation of 34 craniological series based on 19 features of the Tsunehiko Hanihara, Hajime Ishida program on the Eurasian scale is as follows (Fig. 1). The first vector

Table 1. Frequency of occurrence of cranioscopic signs in carriers of the Andronovo culture of Altai

Note: M is the average frequency of the trait in fractions of one, N is the number of observations, n is the number of positive cases (presence of the trait); P is the significance of differences between men and women.

* With additional instances of the frontal bone included.

Figure 1. Results of the craniological series correspondence analysis for 19 features of the program by Tsunehiko Hanikara, Hajime Ishida. 1-East India, 2-South India, 3-North-West India, 4-Afghanistan, 5-Tatar culture, 6-Kazakhstan, 7-Israel, 8-Turks (Cyprus), 9-Russians, 10-Greeks, 11-Eastern Europeans, 12-Italians, 13-Finns, 14-Scandinavians, 15-Germans, 16-French, 17-21 - British territory, 22-Japanese, 23-Northern Chinese, 24-Mongols, 25-Buryats, 26-Amur basin, 27-Neolithic of the Baikal region, 28-Yakuts, 29-Ekwen burial ground, 30-Asian Eskimos, 31-Greenland Eskimos, 32-Chukchi, 33-Aleuts, 34 - Andronovo culture of Altai.

Table 2. Results of the compliance analysis of 34 groups. Loads of features of the program by Tsunehiko Hanihara, Hajime Ishida on vectors I and II

(31.5 % of the total variability, or inertia, of traits) contrasts Caucasians (positive axis) and Mongoloids (negative axis). In the Caucasian groups, the metopic suture, traces of germinal sutures of the occipital bone, the insertion bone of the lambda and asterion, and the precondylar tubercles are more common; in the Mongoloid groups, the posteroscullar suture, the additional chin opening, the opening in the tympanic plate, the vormian bone of the occipitomastoid suture, and the supraorbital opening are more common (Table 2). It is significant that in the Mongoloid direction Some Caucasian groups, such as Tagars, Russians, Hindus, and Afghans, also shy away. If the presence of a weak Mongoloid admixture in Russians and Tagars is not excluded, then the shift in this direction in the populations of India and Afghanistan can be explained differently. It is known that in the odontological complex of characters, in addition to the Europoid and Mongoloid markers, western and eastern ones are also distinguished [Zubov and Khaldeyeva, 1993, pp. 129-131]. An increased (on the scale of Caucasoid values) frequency of occurrence of a number of eastern features (the spade-shaped shape of the upper medial incisors, the distal ridge of the trigonide of the first lower molar) is characteristic of southern Caucasians. Apparently, some cranioscopic features have a similar distribution. Thus, we can conclude that the first vector differentiates groups in the east-west direction.

The second vector (14.2% of inertia), at one pole of which are located Chukchi, Aleuts, Eskimos (among Mongoloids) and Finns, Scandinavians, British (among Caucasians), at the other - the northern Chinese, Japanese, Yakuts, Buryats, Mongols (among Mongoloids) and Hindus, Greeks, Israelis, Turks (among Mongoloids). 1). In the southern series, the insertion bone of the lambda, the medial palatine canal, the third condyle, and the pre - condyle tubercles are more common; in the northern/central series, the maxillohyoid canal and the additional suborbital opening are more common (Table 2). In this coordinate system, the carriers of the Andronovo culture of Altai occupy a place among the Caucasians, between the groups of southern and northern/central origin.

As you know, the results of component analysis depend not only on the set of features, but also on the scale of comparison. The more diverse the groups are compared, the more private details there are when comparing them.-

Table 3. Results of the compliance analysis of 21 groups. Loads of features of the program by Tsunehiko Hanihara, Hajime Ishida on vectors I, II and III

Figure 2. Results of the analysis of the correspondence of Caucasian groups according to 19 features of the program of Tsunehiko Hanikara, Hajime Ishida. 1-East India, 2-South India, 3-North-West India, 4-Afghanistan, 5-Tagar culture, 6-Israel, 7-Turks (Cyprus), 8-Russians, 9-Greeks, 10-Eastern Europeans, 11-Italians, 12-Finns, 13-Scandinavians, 14-Germans, 15-French, 16-20-British territory, 21-Andronovo culture of Altai. Groups of southern origin that are close to the present are circled.

it is worn as a sacrifice when displaying general patterns of variation. When analyzing Caucasians alone, the first vector (24.2% inertia), which differentiates groups in the east-west direction, and the third (12.4% inertia), which differentiates them in the north-south direction, are the most significant (Fig. 2, Table 3). The second vector seems to reflect local deviations in the geographical distribution of a number of features (confluence of the oval and spinous openings, additional chin opening, metopic suture). Southern groups are characterized by low ("eastern") values for the first vector and high ("southern") values on the third level, and for northern and Central European countries - on the contrary, high ("western")values on the first and low ("northern") on the third. Andronovskaya series of Altai has high ("western") values for the first vector and also high ("southern") on the third. The combination of these two divergent trends seems to reflect the mixed nature of this group.

For calculating MMD distances between groups (see Table). 4) we selected 12 traits that show the greatest variability within the Caucasian racial trunk (N 1, 4 - 7, 9 - 11, 14, 15, 18, 19). Judging by the arrangement of groups in the space of I and III dimensions (Fig. 3, b), which almost exactly reproduces the arrangement of groups in the plane of I and III vectors when analyzing the correspondence by 19 features (see Fig. 2), the first axis reflects the variability in the east-west direction, the third-in the north-south direction. At the same time, the variability along the second axis is more difficult to interpret. At one of its poles there are groups from the territory of Great Britain and Israel, at the other - Finns, Scandinavians and Turks of Cyprus (Fig. Most likely, this direction of variability reflects local specifics in the distribution of the metopic suture. As noted, this trait is often found in ancient agricultural centers [Kozintsev, 1988, p. 25], but it is most widespread in the UK, apparently under the influence of isolation [Hanihara and Ishida, 2001c, p. 710]. The coordinates of the Andronovo culture series of Altai in the space of the first (west-east) and third (north-south) axes characterize it as occupying an intermediate position due to a combination of western and southern features (Fig.

See Table 4. MMD distances between groups, calculated

Note: statistically significant distances are shown in italics.

Figure 3. Results of multidimensional scaling of taxonomic distances between groups. See Figure 2 for additional information.

Thus, the results of the analysis of the correspondence of groups for 19 features and multidimensional scaling of taxonomic distances (MMD), calculated taking into account the 12 most variable features, are almost identical.

Of the six features of A. G. Kozintsev's program, the combination of features of PSU II and ZSS (the so-called North Eurasian index), which allows differentiating southern and northern groups, seems to be of the greatest importance for the analysis of Caucasians,

based on 12 features of the program by Tsunehiko Hanihara, Hajime Ishida

or rather, southern and non-southern ones, since the latter include not only northern, but also Central European ones. Southern Caucasians have higher WSS values and lower PSU II values than northern or central Caucasians (Kozintsev, 1988, p. 86). ZI in Caucasians is the most variable trait, but no regularities in its variability were found [Ibid., p. 39], so it is not taken into account in further analysis.

Analysis of the correspondence of ancient and modern Caucasoid groups by five cranioscopic traits (Figure 4) showed that the first vector, which accounts for 33.5% of the total variability (inertia) of traits, actually ranks populations by the value of the "North Eurasian index". It contrasts southern (Ingush, Chechens, Adygeans, Abkhazians, Ossetians, Armenians, Turks, Bulgarians, Arabs, Eneolithic population of Turkmenistan) and Northern/Central European (Estonians, Karelians, Finns, Lithuanians, Poles, Russians, Ukrainians) groups. The transgression zone between them is small. Territorial groups of carriers of the Andronovo culture show significant variability in the first vector. The differences between the Altai and Minusinsk series are most pronounced: the first one falls into the area of "southern" values, the second - "northern" ones. The Kazakhstan series occupies an uncertain position in the transgression zone. Skulls of the Afanasiev culture of the southern orientation in the cranioscopic complex show no signs. Thus, it can be concluded that the Andronovo population of the Altai region is similar to the southern Caucasoid groups and differs from other territorial groups of the Andronovo people, primarily from the Minusinsk basin, and from the carriers of the Afanasyev culture.

The results of studying the cranioscopic features of the Andronovo population of Altai on the basis of different methodological approaches largely coincide, although some differences are also revealed. The complex of 19 features of the program of Tsunehiko Hanihara, Hajime Ishida reflects both the southern and western components of the genetic connections of the Altai Andronovites, while the complex of six features of the program of A. G. Kozintsev shows only the southern trend. It remains unclear whether this is due to differences in the feature set or in the comparative material that defines the "coordinate system".

4. Results of the analysis of the correspondence of craniological series according to five features of the A. G. Kozintsev program, a - the position of the series in the space of vectors I and II: 1-Russians, 2-Ukrainians, 3-Poles, 4-Latvians, 5-Lithuanians, 6-Estonians, 7-Karelians, 8-Finns, 9-Ingush, 10-Chechens, 11-Adygeans, 12-Abkhazians, 13-Ossetians, 14-Armenians, 15-Turks, 16-Bulgarians, 17-Arabs, 18-Italians, 19-Eneolithic of Turkmenistan, 20-Andronovo culture of Altai, 21-Andronovo culture of Minusinsk basin, 22-Andronovo culture of Kazakhstan, 23-Afanasyev culture; b - variability of features.

The genetic influence of southern Caucasians can be traced not only in the cranioscopic, but also in the odontological characteristics of the carriers of the Andronovo culture of Altai (Tur, 2009). At the same time, this group is closer to proto-Europeoids in terms of the craniometric complex of features (Kozintsev, 2008, p. 143). In its composition, two morphological variants are distinguished - "Proto-European" and "Mediterranean", which differ in the size and proportions of the facial and brain regions [Dremov, 1997, p. 94-95; Solodovnikov, 2005, p.133-135]. However, the presence of the "Mediterranean" component is recorded mainly at the level of intra-group variability of traits and weakly affects the average craniometric characteristics of the group. As a result, it turns out that according to craniometric data, the Altai Andronovites are "Proto - Europeans", and according to cranioscopic and odontological data, they are "southern Caucasians". Similar contradictions between discrete and quantitative traits were observed in other groups of mixed origin (Irish and Konigsberg, 2007, p. 152). This may be due to differences in the mechanisms of inheritance of discrete and continuously varying traits. Apparently, craniometric and cranioscopic/ odontological features reflect different chronological sections in the genetic relationships of populations.

The question of the origin of the "Mediterranean" component in the composition of the Andronovo population of Altai remains open. It has been suggested that the Altai Andronovites-Fedorovites were mixed with the Andronovites-Alakulites of Kazakhstan or with the descendants of the Elunins [Dremov, 1997, p. 95-96; Solodovnikov, 2005, p.139, 142], but these versions have not yet been convincingly confirmed by archaeological or anthropological data. Further accumulation of materials is necessary.

Conclusion

The study of cranioscopic features of carriers of the Andronovo culture of Altai using two different methodological approaches yielded similar results. Both sets of traits more or less reflect the genetic influence of southern Caucasians. This coincides with the results of odontological research and differs from the results of craniometric analysis of this group, which is probably due to its mestizo origin.

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The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 13.10.09.

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