The Materials for Craniology of the Northern Samodians

Abstract

A small sample of paleoanthropological materials from the burial grounds Buchta Nakhodka 2 and Yumadoto 1 in the Yamal Peninsula (Yamal district of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of Tyumen Region) has been studied in order to specify the nature of intra-group and inter-population variability. The morphological features of the skulls indicate their belonging to the eastern Mongoloid anthropological formation, but in terms of the nasal bridge structure, they at the same time tend to the western Caucasoid population. According to the results of multidimensional statistics, despite a high individual variability typical of the modern species of Homo sapiens, the range of variability observed in the materials from the burial grounds Buchta Nakhodka 2 and Yumadoto 1 is not beyond the scope of the inter-group variability typical of the Northern Samodians. A more representative sample of this ethnic group has been formed on this basis, which is taxonomically included in the Yamalo-Enisey group of populations of the West Siberian anthropological formation. Authors’ contribution: A.N. Bagashev and S.M. Slepchenko have made measurements of skulls, analyzed the obtained data and have written the paper; O.V. Kardash has carried out archaeological excavations of the burial ground Bukhta Nakhodka 2 and has co-written the paper.

Keywords

• аnthropology
• population
• systematics
• taxonomy
• Northern Eurasia
• Yamal Peninsula
• the Northern Samodians
• the Nenets
• the Kets