Craniological Materials from the Volga-Kama Region and the Fore-Urals on the Issue of the Genesis and Relationship of Different Culture Bearers at the Turn of the Bronze/Early Iron Ages
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24852/2587-6112.2026.2.122.129Keywords:
archaeology, craniology, Ural‑Volga region, Maklashevka and Ananyino cultures, Bronze/Early Iron Ages boundary, canonical analysis, genesis and continuityAbstract
This paper dedicated to the issues of anthropological continuity between the Maklashevka and Ananyino cultures bearers in the forest‑steppe zone of the Ural‑Volga region. Following a refinement of the archaeological context of several burials dating to the turn of the Bronze Age – Early Iron Ages, the anthropological materials were divided into three groups. A morphological description has been provided, along with a canonical multivariate statistical analysis with incorporation synchronous and earlier cranial series from across Eurasia. The local physical substrate of the Maklashevka population of the Volga‑Kama region is specified; in this case, it resembles the physical appearance of the Cherkaskul archaeological culture. A clear morphological continuity is demonstrated between the post‑Maklashevka group and its immediate predecessors, albeit with some strengthening of ties with more eastern‑originating groups. In the population of the classical Ananyino culture, a Mongoloid component of generally Siberian origin is distinctly manifested. It is likely that its influence was associated with the emergence of the Early Ananyino features in the Volga‑Kama region, and subsequently with the overall trend of change in the physical type of the local population toward increased Mongoloid characteristics at the beginning of the Early Iron Age.
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