The Early Iron Age populations of the Minusinsk hollow: revisiting inter- and intragroup variations

Abstract

By means of multivariate statistics, we analyzed male craniological series of the Early Iron Age from Western and Southern Siberia, Central Asia and Eastern Europe. The intra-group analysis of the series from the Minusinsk Hollow reveals specificity of individuals from the tombs of the Tesinsk culture, in comparison with other groups. At the same time, the population which left Tesinsk burials is obviously related to the Tagar culture. The analysis of the Tagar series reveals a strong differentiation of individuals from the burials between the Podgornovo and the Saragash periods. The results of the intra-group analyses are confirmed by a broad-scale inter-group analysis of the Eurasian Iron Age series. The Tagar series show clear craniometrical specificity which includes rather small cranial and face breadth, not very broad orbits, small naso-malar and zigomaxillary angles, long cranium and protruding nasal bones.

Keywords

• Early Iron Age
• craniological data
• the Minusinsk Hollow
• the Tagar culture