UDC 572
A. A. Kazarnitsky
Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography. Peter the Great (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences
3 Universitetskaya Emb., Saint Petersburg, 199034, Russia
E-mail: kasarnizki@rambler.ru
The article describes new craniological materials of the Maikop archaeological culture. The measurement data of male skulls of the Maikop culture carriers, including new and previously published information, were compared using canonical analysis with data on chronologically and geographically similar craniological series. As a result, the peculiarity of the Maikop culture series is established, for which no close analogs were found in the materials of the Bronze Age not only from the steppe and forest-steppe zones of Eastern Europe, but also from the Caucasus and Central Asia. Skulls with a similar set of features were found in Near East Asia, but the small number of comparative materials does not allow us to draw a final conclusion about the Middle Eastern origin of the population of the Maikop culture.
Keywords: anthropology, archeology, craniology, Maikop culture, bronze age.
The Maikop archaeological culture, dating back to the fourth millennium BC, is widely known as a striking phenomenon of the Bronze Age in Eastern Europe. The Maikop mound, which gave its name to the culture, is a unique monument of archeology due to the richness of the funeral rite. The metal production center formed in the area of the Maikop-Novosvobodna community also had a significant impact on the development of the material culture of the steppe population of Eastern Europe (Markovin and Munchaev, 2003; Korenevsky, 2004).
Monuments of the Maikop culture, or the Maikop-Novosvobodna community, are distributed mainly in the plains and foothills of the North Caucasus-from the Taman Peninsula and almost to the eastern borders of Dagestan, mainly in the basins of the Kuban River and its tributaries (Munchaev, 1994). Monuments of the late stage of the Maikop culture have been recorded on the northwestern edge of the area in the steppe Prikuban region (Trifonov, 1991, p. 109). Rare Maikop burials are also found in the north and northeast of the main area up to the territory of Kalmykia and probably reflect short-term penetration of" Maikopians " far into the steppe (Shishlina, 2007, p. 51).
Despite the abundance of monuments of the Maikop culture, paleoanthropological material from them is represented only by individual finds. A skull from border 1 mound 28 of the Kladyj burial ground in Adygea, dating from the late Novosvobodnensky stage of the Maikop culture, was studied by A.V. Shevchenko. The researcher noted its morphological similarity with the skulls of representatives of the cultures of funnel-shaped cups of Poland, spherical amphorae and Fatyanovo culture [1983, p.84]. The Maikop and Novosvobodny skulls from the Evdyk I burial ground in Kalmykia were also published by A.V. Shevchenko. He revealed the similarity of the Maikop calvarium from the border of mound 204 with the craniological series of the Middle East and Egypt, as well as with a more maturized but similar variant from the Zadono-Avilovsky and Sizhinsky burial grounds of the Volgograd and Samara regions, and the Novosvobodnensky skull from the border of mound 224 showed the features of carriers of the Srednestogovskaya and Yamnaya cultures [1986, p. 161].
The Maikop skull from the Mandzhikina I burial ground in Kalmykia was studied by A. A. Khokhlov. In his opinion, the skull is morphologically close to the cranium.-
page 148
previously used Maikop and Novosvobodnenskiy skulls. The researcher highlighted the common features of the representatives of the Maikop-Novosvobodna community; noted a significant difference between the latter and the anthropological type of carriers of the yamnaya culture; questioned the similarity of the Maikop skull from the Evdyk I burial ground with skulls from the Sizhinsky and Zadono-Avilovsky burial grounds; concluded that the morphological similarity of the Maikop skulls with craniological materials of the Caucasus, Near Asia and the south-western part of Central Asia The craniological series from the Samtavro burial grounds in Armenia and Ginchi burial grounds in Dagestan is most strongly gravitated to (Khokhlov, 2002).
A brief report on several skulls belonging to the Maikop culture from burial grounds in the Kalaus River valley in Stavropol was preliminary. Anthropologically heterogeneous, according to the results of statistical analysis by the principal component method, these finds are most similar to the series from the Khvalynsky Eneolithic burial ground in the Samara region (Gerasimova, Pezhemsky, and Yablonsky, 2002).
T. P. Alekseeva published measurements of a male skull from the 13 mound 5 border of the Nezhinskaya 2nd group near Kislovodsk (plastic reconstruction of the face from this skull was performed by L. T. Yablonsky), as well as male and female skulls from the 70 mound 1 border near the village of Zamankul in North Ossetia. The skulls of the Maikop-Novosvobodna community belong to the Mediterranean branch of southern Europoids, a physical type common in the Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age in Armenia, Georgia, Iran, and Mesopotamia. The anthropological heterogeneity of the Maikop skulls is explained by the lack of representativeness of the series, but it is possible to mix with the local population of the steppes of southern Eastern Europe (Alekseeva, 2004).
In 2007, detailed descriptions and measurements of skulls from burial grounds in the Kalaus River Valley were published (Gerasimova, Pezhemsky, and Yablonsky, 2007). The authors of the publication noted the heterogeneous composition of the Maikop series, which reflects the Eastern Mediterranean craniological complex as a whole. The latter is in sharp contrast to the proto-Europoid set of features common in Eastern Europe, which is characteristic of representatives of the Yamnaya culture. The assumption about the participation of Near-Asian elements in the formation of carriers of the Maikop culture is considered possible, while the tendency to hypermorphy is also explained by the influence of the ancient population of the steppe zone.
Taking into account the rare anthropological findings associated with the Maikop culture, it is extremely important to describe the Maikop skull from the Chograi III burial ground (East Manych, left bank, kurgan group III, I. V. Sinitsyn excavations, 1966, mound 16, border 13), stored in the collections of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography. Peter the Great. In the work of A.V. Shevchenko [1986], devoted to the anthropology of the population of the Southern Russian steppes in the Bronze Age, this skull was included in the catacomb culture series, since the skeleton was found in the catacomb. However, such a grave structure is probably a feature of steppe Maykop burials, and the burial complex leaves no doubt that it belongs to the Maykop culture [Shishlina, 2002, pp. 165-166]. In addition, craniological forms with measurements of three skulls from the burials of the Maikop culture of the Chograi I burial grounds (Vostochny Manych, right Bank, kurgan group I, excavations by I. V. Sinitsyn, 1967) and the Volga - Chograi Canal (excavations by N. I. Shishlina and S. F. Serebryakov, 1988) were found in the personal archive of A. V. Shevchenko. G.) (Table 1).
Vostochny Manych, left bank, kurgan group III, excavations of I. V. Sinitsyn, 1966. (Chograi III ' 1966), mound 16, border 13 (inv. N 6699-168). Skull of a 30 - 40-year-old female with a very long, medium-wide cranial box with a large high-altitude diameter, dolichocranial according to cranial and orthocranial according to altitude indicators. The forehead is of medium width, sloping. A face of medium height and width, orthognathous by the general facial angle and prognathous by the index of the protrusion of the face, according to the upper - facial index-mezen. The orbits are wide and very low, hameconhny on the pointer from maxillofrontal. The nose is narrow and low, leptorine, with a strong protrusion of the nasal bones, the lower edge of the pear-shaped opening is antropine. The nasal bones are of medium width and the bridge of the nose is very high. The facial skeleton is profiled moderately at the upper level and sharply at the level of zygomaxillary points. The sky is medium-wide.
Vostochny Manych, right bank, mound group I, excavations by I. V. Sinitsyn, 1967 (Chograi I ' 1967), mound 19, border 8. Skull of an 18-20 - year-old woman with a long, medium-wide and very high skull, dolichocranial according to cranial and hypsicranial according to height indicators. The forehead is of medium width, with a moderate slope. A face of medium height and width, mesognath according to the general facial angle and prognathous according to the index of the protrusion of the face, according to the upper - facial index-mesen. The orbits are wide, of medium height, and mesoconchal according to the index. The nose is of medium width, low, hamerine, the angle of protrusion of the nasal bones is very large, the lower edge of the pear-shaped opening is antropine. The nasal bones are very broad and the bridge of the nose is high. The facial skeleton is very strongly profiled at the upper and middle levels. The sky is wide.
Volga-Chograi Canal 56-88, excavations by N. I. Shishlina and S. F. Serebryakov, 1988, mound 13, border 5. Skull
page 149
Table 1. Individual sizes and indexes of skulls of Maikop culture bearers (A.V. Shevchenko's measurements)
N according to Martin et al.
Sign
EHF-56-88, 1988, 13/5
EHF-56-88, 1988.6 / 12
ВМЛБIII'1966 16/13
VMPB ' 1967 19/8
m
m
zh
w (?)
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
Longitudinal diameter
197
192
188
180
8
Cross diameter
142
140
134
134
8: 1
Cranial index
72,1
72,9
71,3
74,4
17
Height diameter
135
139?
133
136
17: 1
Height and length indicator
68,5
72,4
70,7
75,6
17:8
Cross-height indicator
95,1
99,3
99,3
101,5
20
Ear height
114
118
110
110
5
Length of skull base
108
-
98
105
9
Smallest width of the forehead
97
103
95
94
10
Maximum width of the forehead
123
117
117
115
11
Ear width
129
124 (?)
113
115
12
Nape width
117
112
105
103
7
Length of occipital opening
-
-
37
-
16
Width of the occipital foramen
-
-
28
-
26
Frontal arch
135
137
123
124
29
Frontal chord
119
123
109
108
32
Forehead profile angle from n
77
-
81
84
-
Forehead profile angle from gl
70
-
74
76
27
Parietal arch
121
138
131
121
28
Occipital arch
127
113
123
108
30
Parietal chord
111
122
117
108
31
Occipital chord
102
98
104
91
-
Forehead bending height
27
-
25
26
-
Nape bending height
33,6
-
27,3
23
23a
Horizontal circle through on
-
-
510
-
24
Transverse arc po-b-po
-
-
302
-
40
Face base length
-
-
94
97
40:5
Face protrusion indicator
-
-
95,9
92,4
43
Upper face width
110
110 (?)
102
102
45
Zygomatic diameter
142
138 (?)
121
124
46
Average face width
102
-
95
88
48
Upper face height
81 (?)
-
65
66
48:45
Upper face pointer
57,0
-
53,7
53,2
51
Orbit width from mf
44
-
42
42
51a
Orbit width from d
-
-
38
38,5
52
Orbit height
32
-
29
34
52:51
Orbital pointer from mf
72,7
-
69,0
81,0
52:51a
Orbital pointer from d
-
-
76,3
88,3
page 150
End of Table 1
1
2
3
4
5
6
54
Nose width
31
-
22
24
55
Nose height
60 (?)
-
47
47
54:55
Nose pointer
51,7
-
46,8
51,1
60
Length of the alveolar arch
-
-
50
51
61
Width of the alveolar arch
-
-
56
58
62
Sky length
-
-
42
44
63
Width of the sky
-
-
35
39
63:62
Palatal index
-
-
83,3
88,6
MC
Maxillofrontal width
21,5
-
19,5
22,0
MS
Maxillofrontal height
9,2
-
6,8
8,0
MS:MC
Maxillofrontal index
42,8
-
34,9
36,4
SC
Simotic width
9,8
10,8
7,7
12,7
SS
Simotic height
5,7
5,2
4,5
6,0
SS:SC
Simotic index
58,2
48,1
58,4
47,2
DC
Dacrial width
21,2
-
21,0
23,0
DS
Dacrial height
14,7
-
13,0
15,0
DS:DC
Dacrial index
69,3
-
61,9
65,2
77
Nasomalar angle
141,6
139,5
141,2
133,7
zm
Zygomaxillary angle
-
-
125,8
119,0
72
General face angle
-
-
85
83
73
Middle face angle
-
-
86
85
75 (1)
Nose protrusion angle
-
-
26
32
68 (1)
Length of lower jaw from condyles
-
-
99
-
79
Angle of the lower jaw branch
-
-
120
-
68
Length of the lower jaw from the corners
-
-
70
-
70
Branch height
-
-
62
-
71a
Smallest branch width
-
-
32
-
65
Condylar width
-
-
112
117
66
Corner width
-
-
92
97
67
Front width
-
-
47
-
69
Symphysis height
-
-
32
-
69 (1)
Body height
-
-
29 (?)
-
69 (3)
Body thickness
-
-
13
-
With
Angle of protrusion of the chin
-
-
78
-
-
Superscape (1-6)
3,5
3,5
2
2
-
Brow ridges (1-3)
2,75
3
1
2
-
Mastoid process
2,75
3
1
2
-
Lower edge of the pear-shaped opening
anthr
f.pr
anthr.
anthr
-
Antero-nasal bone (according to Broca 1-5)
-
-
2
4
Note. EHF-56-88, 1988, 13/5 - Volga-Chograi Channel-56-88, mound 13, border 5; EHF-56-88, 1988, 6/12 - Volga-Chograi Channel-56-88, mound 6, border 12; WMBII'1966, 16/13 - Vostochny Manych, left bank, kurgan group III (Chograi III), 1966, mound 16, border 13; VMPB ' 1967 19/8-Vostochny Manych, right bank, kurgan group I (Chograi I), 1967, mound 19, border 8.
page 151
Table 2. Average sizes and indexes of male skulls of Maikop culture bearers
N according to Martin et al.
Sign
n
X
sd
1
Longitudinal diameter
10
195,0
5,8
8
Cross diameter
9
139,3
4,6
17
Height diameter
5
139,0
5,8
20
Ear height
8
116,0
3,9
5
Length of skull base
4
109,1
2,0
9
Smallest width of the forehead
9
97,2
5,4
11
Width of the skull base
9
125,6
4,3
12
Nape width
9
115,0
5,4
45
Zygomatic diameter
9
134,8
5,4
40
Face base length
3
104,3
3,2
48
Upper face height
9
75,1
6,2
43
Upper face width
9
108,6
3,8
46
Average face width
7
98,3
3,9
55
Nose height
9
54,9
3,2
54
Nose width
8
25,6
3,8
51
Orbit width from mf
9
45,3
2,0
52
Orbit height
9
33,0
3,0
77
Nasomalar angle
9
133,3
6,1
zm
Zygomaxillary angle
5
123,4
3,1
SC
Simotic width
7
9,6
1,6
SS
Simotic height
7
5,6
0,7
MC
Maxillofrontal width
2
20,3
1,8
MS
Maxillofrontal height
2
8,5
1,1
DC
Dacrial width
5
18,4
5,4
DS
Dacrial height
5
15,8
3,0
32
Forehead profile angle from n
7
76,7
3,3
72
General face angle
6
86,0
3,1
74
Angle of the alveolar part
6
77,8
7,7
75 (1)
Nose protrusion angle
7
39,0
4,7
8: 1
Cranial index
9
71,8
3,4
17: 1
Height and length indicator
5
72,1
3,5
17:8
Cross-height indicator
5
98,9
3,8
48:45
Upper face pointer
8
56,1
4,7
40:5
Face protrusion indicator
3
95,3
1,6
54:55
Nose pointer
8
46,8
8,1
52:51
Orbital pointer from mf
9
73,2
8,8
SS:SC
Simotic index
7
59,6
9,3
MS:MC
Maxillofrontal index
2
41,7
1,6
DS:DC
Dacrial index
5
98,4
58,9
males 30-40 years old with a very long skull of medium width and height, dolichocranial according to cranial and hamecranial according to height indicators. The forehead is of medium width, sloping. The face is very tall and broad, according to the upper - facial index-lepten. The orbits are wide and low, hamekonkhnye on the pointer. The nose appears to be very broad and very high, hameric. The nasal bones are broad and the bridge of the nose is high. The facial skeleton is medium-profiled at the upper level.
Volga-Chograi Canal 56-88, excavations by N. I. Shishlina and S. F. Serebryakov, 1988, mound 6, border area. 12. The skull of a male over 55 years of age with a very long, high skull of medium width, dolichocranial according to cranial and orthocranial according to height indicators. The forehead is very broad. The nasal bones are broad and the bridge of the nose is high. The profile of the facial skeleton at the upper level is at the border of small and medium values.
To date, it has been possible to form a craniological series of ten male skulls from the Maikop-Novosvobodnenskaya community, which includes the Maikop skulls: four from the territory of Kalmykia (burial grounds of the Volga-Chograi Canal, mound 13, mound 5 and Mound 6, mound 12; Evdyk I, mound 4, mound 20 Manjikiny I, mound 14, border 13), four from the territory of the Stavropol Territory and North Ossetia (burial grounds Ipatovo V, mound 4, border 6; Goryachevodsky I, mound 3, border 6; Nezhinskaya II, mound 5, border 13; Zamankul, mound 1, border 70), as well as two skulls belonging to the late Novosvobodnensky stage of the Maikop culture, from the territory of Adygea (burial ground of the Treasure, mound 28, border. 1) and Kalmykia (burial ground Evdyk I, mound 4, border 22).
The male series of the Maikop culture as a whole is characterized by the following features: very long, medium-wide, high cranial box, dolichocranial according to cranial and orthocranial according to height indicators; forehead of medium width, sloping; face high and wide, mesognathous according to the general facial angle and prognathous according to the index of the face protrusion, according to the upper-facial index-lepten; orbits are very large. broad and low, hamecon-shaped; nose medium-wide and high, leptorine; nasal bones broad and very prominent; nose bridge very high; facial skeleton profiled very sharply at the upper and middle levels (Table 2).
Due to the fact that many researchers noted the morphological heterogeneity of the skulls of representatives of the Maikop culture, an intragroup analysis of the male series was carried out using the principal component method. As a result, the two most informative components were obtained, which together reflect 66 % of the total variability (Table 3).
In the first component (GC I), the greatest loads were placed on the smallest width of the forehead, the upper width of the forehead.
page 152
Table 3. Elements of the first four principal components (GC)
N according to Martin et al.
Sign
GC I
GC II
GC III
GC IV
1
Longitudinal diameter
0,660
0,109
0,646
-0,057
8
Cross diameter
-0,296
0,576
-0,187
-0,700
9
Smallest width of the forehead
0,788
0,454
0,203
-0,182
45
Zygomatic width
0,393
0,896
0,115
-0,159
48
Upper face height
-0,616
0,652
0,041
0,311
43
Upper face width
0,832
0,281
0,137
0,186
55
Nose height
-0,524
0,696
0,122
0,414
54
Nose width
0,595
0,193
-0,543
0,209
51
Orbit width from mf
0,717
-0,008
-0,035
0,357
52
Orbit height
-0,744
-0,253
0,587
0,017
77
Nasomalar angle
-0,710
0,528
-0,103
0,110
Proper numbers
4,568
2,721
1,192
1,038
Share of total variance (%)
41,527
24,740
10,841
9,434
face, the width and height of the orbit and nasomalar angle, in the second (GC II) - by zygomatic width. The graph showing the results of the analysis clearly shows the morphological unity of the skulls of the Maikop-Novosvobodnenskaya community (Fig. 1). The skulls of the representatives of the Novosvobodnenskaya stage, which is distinguished by some researchers as a special archaeological culture (Safronov, 1982; Rezepkin, 1991), do not show any differences from the Maikop ones themselves. Only the calvarium from the Ipatovo V burial ground, which occupies a separate position in the first component, is characterized by the highest latitudinal dimensions and, as noted by other researchers, a number of archaic features [Gerasimova, Pezhemsky, and Yablonsky, 2007, p.109].
To compare the morphological complex of the Maikop culture carriers with other synchronous and later craniological series of the Caucasus, Central Asia, steppe and forest-steppe zones of Eastern Europe, a canonical analysis was performed using an averaged (standard) intra-group correlation matrix (Deryabin, 1983). In the course of this statistical procedure, the program of B. A. Kozintsev was used. The analysis was carried out according to 14 features: longitudinal, transverse and height diameters of the skull, smallest width of the forehead, zygomatic diameter, upper height of the face, width of the orbit from the maxillofrontal points, height of the orbit, height and width of the nose, nasomalar and zygomaxillary angles, simotic index, angle of protrusion of the nose. The following craniological series were used as a comparative material:
Yamnaya kul'tura, Orenburg region (Yablonsky and Khokhlov, 1994);
pit and catacomb cultures, Ukraine (Krutz, 1984);
pit and catacomb cultures, Volga region (Alekseev and Gokhman, 1984);
yamnaya, early catacomb, catacomb and North Caucasian cultures, Kalmykia (summarized by the author on individual measurements by A. V. Shevchenko);
Figure 1. Position of male skulls of the Maikop culture in the space of the first and second main components (GC).
1 - Volga-Chograi Canal-56-88, mound 13, border 5; 2 - Volga-Chograi Canal-56-88, mound 6, border 12; 3-Manjikiny I, mound 14, border 13; 4-Evdyk I, mound 4, 20; 5-Treasures, mound 28, mound 1; 6-Evdyk I, mound 4, mound 22; 7-Ipatovo V, mound 4, mound 6; 8-Goryachevodsky I, mound 3, mound 6; 9-Nezhinskaya 2-1st group, mound 5, border 13; 10-Zamankul, mound 1, border 70.
page 153
See Table 4. Elements of the first three canonical vectors (KB)
N according to Martin et al.
Sign
KV I
KV II
KV III
1
Longitudinal diameter
-0,651
0,319
0,613
8
Cross diameter
0,921
0,242
0,276
17
Height diameter
-0,313
0,143
0,494
9
Smallest width of the forehead
0,462
0,098
0,716
45
Zygomatic width
0,899
0,348
0,312
48
Upper face height
-0,582
-0,038
0,712
55
Nose height
-0,465
0,052
0,798
54
Nose width
0,007
0,684
0,551
51
Orbit width from mf
0,471
0,820
0,458
52
Orbit height
-0,617
-0,451
0,324
77
Nasomalar angle
0,627
-0,023
-0,742
zm
Zygomaxillary angle
0,308
0,223
-0,776
SS:SC
Simotic index
0,013
-0,428
0,733
75 (1)
Nose protrusion angle
0,333
0,181
0,875
Proper numbers
36,374
8,254
6,328
Share of total variance (%)
65,545
14,874
11,403
Figure 2. Position of male craniological series
the Bronze Age in the space of KV I and II. 1-Maikop culture ([Shevchenko, 1983, 1986; Khokhlov, 2002; Alekseeva, 2004; Gerasimova, Yablonsky, and Pezhemsky, 2007], this work); 2-early catacomb culture of Kalmykia (this work); 3-North Caucasian burials in Kalmykia (ibid.); 4-East Manych catacomb culture, Kalmykia (ibid.); 5-pit culture, Kalmykia (ibid.); 6-Poltavka culture, Volga region [Shevchenko, 1986]; 7-pit culture, Ukraine [Kruz, 1984]; 8-catacomb culture, Ukraine [Ibid.]; 9-pit culture, Volga region [Alekseev and Gokhman, 1984]; 10-catacomb culture, Volga region [Ibid.]; 11-yamnaya culture, Orenburg region [Yablonsky and Khokhlov, 1994]; 12-Ginchi [Alekseev and Gokhman, 1984]; 13-Samtavro [Ibid.]; 14-Vyezdee [Shevchenko, 1980]; 15-Karadepe [Alekseev and Gokhman, 1984]; 16-Geoxur [Ibid.].
Poltavka culture, Volga region (Shevchenko, 1986);
Sizhinsky burial ground, Samara region (Shevchenko, 1980);
Samtavro burial ground, Georgia (Alekseev and Gokhman, 1984);
Ginchi burial ground, Dagestan [Ibid.];
Karadepe and Geoxyur burial grounds, South Turkmenistan [Ibid.].
In the first canonical vector (KB I), the greatest loads fall on the transverse diameter of the cranium and zygomatic width (Table 4). For KB II, the orbital width and nasal width are dominant. The first two canonical vectors cover 80.4 % of the variance.
When considering the position of the studied groups in the KB I and II spaces, the Maikopians occupy an intermediate position in the first vector between the steppe series of Eastern Europe, on the one hand, and the southern Caucasians of the Caucasus and Central Asia, on the other, but tend to the latter (Fig. 2). At the positive pole, the most brachycranic and broad-faced series are grouped Yamnikovs of Kalmykia and the Volga region, early catacombs and North Caucasians of Kalmykia, at the opposite pole - the most dolichocranial and narrow-faced groups from the South Turkmen burial grounds and Transcaucasia. The Maikop group is closely related to the Dolichocrane series of the Early Bronze Age of the North Caucasus and Ukraine. It should be noted that the group formed by the early catacombs and pits of the Volga region and Kalmykia, as well as the small North Caucasian series adjacent to it, is isolated. At the same time, the series of catacombs of Ukraine, the Volga region, Kalmykia, and the Poltavkinsets of the Volga region show no noticeable differences; the series of pits of Ukraine and the Orenburg region, as well as skulls from the Sizhee burial ground, are not far from them.
In the second vector, the "Maikopians", which differ in the largest values of the width of the orbit and the width of the nose, are opposed to all series, especially the Caucasian ones. Central Asian and Eastern European groups are far from the Maikop series.
Thus, according to the results of the canonical analysis, the skulls of the Maikop culture bearers differ sharply from all groups of the synchronous and later steppe and forest-steppe populations of Eastern Europe. This is an additional argument in favor of the fact that burials with Maikop implements on the territory of Kalmykia are not just the result of the Maikop cultural influence on steppe tribes [Munchaev, 1994, p. 168], they are left by a special group of the population that is not genetically related to representatives of the local yamnaya culture. The craniological complex of southern Caucasians found in the Maikop series is similar in some respects to the synchronous groups
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The North Caucasus and Southern Turkmenistan, but this is not enough to link the origin of the "Maikopians" with these regions.
An equally wide range of craniological features characteristic of the Maikop series as a whole is known in the Near East (Bunak, 1947, p.77). Thus, a small series of skulls from Al-Ubaid in the southern part of the Tigris-Euphrates interfluve, dating from the fourth millennium BC, is distinguished by dolichocrania (cranial index - 72.6), a high face, a medium-wide and high nose with sharply and medium-protruding nasal bones, and a wide palate (Keith, 1931, p. 239-241).. Unfortunately, the available information about this series is not sufficient to compare it with the Maikop group using multivariate statistics. However, taking into account the peculiarity of the "Maikopians" in Eastern Europe and their insignificant similarity with the southern Caucasians of the Caucasus and Central Asia, as well as the well-known attraction of the material culture of the Maikop-Novosvobodna community to the Middle East [Munchaev, 1994, p.170], the origin of the Maikop culture carriers can be associated with the territory of Near Asia with a certain degree of convention.
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The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 21.07.08.
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