Origins of the Northern Selkups Based on Anthropological Data

Abstract

The authors examine the origins of the Upper Taz Selkups based on craniology and dental anthropology. They are one of the least studied groups of the indigenous population of Western Siberia. Judging by historical and ethnolinguistic data, the Northern Selkups moved to the Upper Taz region in the 17th – 18th century. Anthropological materials of the Northern Selkups were first obtained only in 2013 and 2016 during the excavations of Kikki-Akki burial ground. Recorded according to archaeological data, the burial rite has direct analogies in Southern Selkups burial grounds of the 17th – 18th centuries, with the exception of the selected individual features of the Eastern Khanty traditions. The craniological sample from Kikki-Akki burial includes 21 skulls – 13 males and 8 females. The dental sample includes the teeth of 22 individuals – 10 male, 6 female and 6 children. During the study the authors examined the anthropological materials based on the method of description of dental and cranial morphology, performed statistical integration. Characteristics of the series were compared with the obtained data of West Siberian near-recent samples. The analysis of the data shows that the Vakh Khanty represent the closest analogy to the series from Kikki-Akki, but the female part of the craniological sampling has a strong resemblance to the groups of the Southern Selkups. The results confirm the available historical and ethnolinguistic data on their formation due to the resettlement of a part of the Southern Selkup group from the Ob River Basin to the north, i.e. to the upper reaches of the Taz River. Moreover, the results demonstrate that the Selkup appearance changed quite a lot in a short period of time (200–300 years) that passed since their migration. The Northern Selkups acquired a significant resemblance to the Vakh Khanty – the only population with which the Selkups could maintain marital relations during their resettlement from the Middle Ob River to the Taz River.

Keywords

• western siberia
• modern age
• northern selkups
• anthropology
• craniology
• dental anthropology