Craniological materials from Medieval grave fields in Krasnodar Krai

Abstract

In this paper, we present a study of craniological materials collected in the Psebeps 3, Kabardinka and Tserkovnaya shchel’ medieval grave fields (Krasnodar Krai, Russia). The Psebeps 3 grave field (10 male and 5 female skulls), belonging to the Adyghe people (Circassians), dates to the 14th–15th centuries. The Kabardinka grave field (11 male and 4 female skulls), also correlating with the Adyghes, dates to the 14th–15th centuries. The Tserkovnaya shchel’ grave field (3 male and 3 female skulls), dating to the 17th–18th centuries, was a burial site of the Adyghe tribes. All the skulls are characterized by the Caucasoid craniological complex and a significant typological diversity within this complex. On the basis of intragroup analysis, a graph was drawn that places the skulls from the Psebeps 3 and Kabardinka grave fields on its right and left sides, respectively. This discrepancy is likely to result from a difference in these series, although they both represent culturally related population groups. Following the results of the intergroup analysis of the male series, the graph depicts two clusters. The first cluster features the Pyatigorsk, Natukhai, Kazazovo 1, Moshchevaya Balka, Gamovskoe Ushchelie, Psebeps 3 and Tserkovnaya shchel’ groups. The second cluster includes the Black Sea, Shapsugs, Kazazovo 2 and Kabardinka groups. The Circassian group is located on the graph separately from the aforementioned groups. The graph representing the results of the intergroup analysis of the female series shows the Psebeps 3, Kazazovo 2, Tserkovnaya shchel’ and Natukhai groups to be located on the left, the Pyatigorsk, Shapsugs, Kabardian, Black Sea and Moshchevaya Balka groups to be in the centre, while the Circassian group is located separately. In the distribution of the series, the separate position of the Circassian group stands out; this is likely to be a result of Mongoloid admixture in the territory of the Adyghe settlements recorded in the territory of Circassia. The cluster bringing together the series from the Black Sea, Kazazovo 2, Kabardinka and Shapsug groups can also be quite logically explained by the fact that all these populations belong to the Adyghes. In the third cluster, the new materials are in good agreement with the facts demonstrating the transformation of the anthropological variation typical of the skulls from Moshchevaya Balka and Kazazovo 1 towards that typical of the skulls from the Pyatigorsk group. It is interesting that the Psebeps 3 series originating from the territory of traditional Natukhai settlements demonstrate a convergence with the third cluster containing the Natukhai series.

Keywords

• craniology
• burial ground
• Middle Ages
• Krasnodar Krai
• Adyghe