NEW ANTHROPOLOGICAL MATERIALS OF THE SKYTHIAN TIME FROM THE SETTLEMENT MONUMENTS OF THE FOREST STEPPE

Abstract

The article examines the anthropological materials of the Scythian time, obtained as a result of the latest research on the hillforts and settlements of the forest-steppe Don region. The analyzed selection includes 15 relatively intact or partially destroyed human skeletons, as well as scattered remains of six individuals. The finds come from two settlements of the Upper Don (Verkhnee Kazach'e and Semiluki) and the Middle Don settlement 2 near the Titchikha farm. The use of a complex of anthropological methods made it possible to illuminate different aspects of the life of these people. As a result of the work, information was obtained on stress markers and a number of pathologies recorded on the bones. In general, the overall level of physical activity is regarded as average, and the effect of physiological stress was small. A number of changes in the teeth made it possible to make an assumption about the low culture of oral hygiene, as well as about the peculiarities of the diet, which included viscous and, probably, high-protein foods. Attention is drawn to the unusualness and abnormality of both age and sex cohorts of people buried here. Among them were found mainly the remains of men about 50 years old, as well as several burials of children and adolescents. There were no female burials. It was possible to reconstruct the appearance of two people, as well as the height of four individuals, which was about 170 cm. Despite the fact that the work considers a small number of burials, nevertheless, it introduces into circulation new data for the discussion about the picture of the formation of the population of the forest-steppe Don region in the Scythian time.

Keywords

• paleoanthropology
• scythian time
• forest-steppe don region
• ground burials