About Anthropological Connections Between the Scythians of the Northern Black Sea Region and the Sauromat-Sarmatian Population of 6th – 3rd Centuries BC

Abstract

Introduction. The article discusses the issue of possible connections of the Sauromat-Early Sarmatian population of the 6th – 3rd centuries BC of the Southern Urals, the Lower Volga region and the Lower Don with the synchronous groups of the Northern Black Sea region according to physical anthropology. This problem is directly related to the origin of the Scythians, which still remains controversial. The review of scientific literature has shown that the problem of anthropological relationships between these two groups of early nomads in Eastern Europe has not yet been considered. Methods and materials. Testing for the existence of models of ethnogenetic relationships was carried out using intergroup comparisons of craniometric data. Mass material on the early nomads of the Sauromat-Early Sarmatian period of the Southern Urals, the Lower Volga region, the Lower Don and the steppe Scythians of the Northern Black Sea region was processed by the canonical method, followed by the consideration of the proximity of Mahalanobis. For this, digital information on 48 male and 30 female craniological series was used. Results. The greatest morphological similarity with the eastern Sauromat-Early Sarmatian populations is possessed by an elite group from the royal kurgans (Aleksandropol and Zheltokamenka), as well as local groups from the Sivash and Nosak regions. In all compared groups, the type of ancient Eastern Caucasians prevails, which combined mesobrachicrania with a weakened horizontal facial profile at the upper level. Thus, the results of the study showed the presence of ethnogenetic relationships in the studied early nomads, which either confirms the hypothesis about the possible influence of the Sauromat-Early Sarmatian component on changes in the intragroup structure of the Northern Black Sea populations, or indicate the presence of a single genetic substrate of South Siberian origin.