Craniology of Cimmerian Population of Naddniprianschyna

Keywords: Cimmerian culture, craniology, paleoanthropology, craniometry, Kirovograd Region, skull, Chornohorivka period

Abstract

Just in the middle of the 20th century the relevance of the Cimmerian problem for understanding the historical events that took place in the pre-Scythian and Scythian periods on the vast territory of the Black Sea region, became apparent, and that, in particular, was noted in the thesis of S.V. Machortykh for the academic degree of Doctor in Historical Science. In many cases, that was associated with the mentioning of the Cimmerians in written sources, and the researchers tried to match the historical Cimmerians with limited archaeological and anthropological materials, which in general were scarce. Thus, the study of the Cimmerian problem is relevant to understanding the laws of the development of European culture and history in 1000 BC. Many issues raised in historical science as far back as at the beginning of the 20th century remain controversial nowadays as well. Therefore, every skull on the burial of this culture is an important source for research.

The goal of the paper is to compare the general Cimmerian group and a separate sample of Chornohorivka and Novocherkassk period with the series of Scythian culture according to the craniometry, using the method of canonical multivariate analysis.

According to craniological data, an individual characteristic of the skull from the mound 1, burial 3, found during the excavations of O.O. Melnyk on the territory of the Northern Iron Ore Dressing Works of Kirovograd Region in 2007. It was found out that burial 3 from mound 1 dated back to the chornohorivka period and belonged to 30-40-year-old man. The skull is characterized by a mesocranial brainbox, medium altitude-longitudinal, and altitude-latitudinal indexes, increased cranial base length, moderately wide occiput. According to the linear dimensions the face is mesognathic, very long and broad. According to the upper face index, the face is narrow; according to the general face index, it is narrow. The nasomalar and zygomaxillary angles are moderate, indicating an average profiled face on the upper and middle levels. Orbits are low. The nose is narrow, sharply protruding the face profile line. According to the simotical index, the nasal bridge is very high. At the same time, discrete-variation features reflecting the genetic linkages in the population were studied. Thanks to the use of a multivariate analysis of the main components, it has been proved that the studied skull according to the five craniological features is most similar to the male skull from the burial site (mound 9, burial site 2) in Stepove of Zaporizhzhia Region. Separately, two series of Cimmerians of the chornohorivka period and a combined sample of the Chornohorivka and Novocherkassk periods with the involvement of that burial site were created. After a canonical multivariate comparative analysis, the general sample of the Chornohorivka and Novocherkassk periods showed the similarity to the skulls of the Scythian group from the Steppe Right Bank of the Dnipro – Verkhnia Tarasivka.

In the future, for objective research, it is necessary to accumulate anthropological material and increase the sample in order to deepen the conclusions on more representative materials.

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Published
07.04.2019
How to Cite
Dolzhenko, Y. (2019). Craniology of Cimmerian Population of Naddniprianschyna. Eminak: Scientific Quarterly Journal, (1(25), 30-53. https://doi.org/10.33782/eminak2019.1(25).280
Section
Archaelogy