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Section HUMAN DIVERSITY
DERMATOGLYPHICS OF ABKHAZO-ADYGHEAN PEOPLES OF
THE CAUCASUS
Heet Henriette
Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
Populations of Caucasus are dermatogyphically distinct, being generally intermediate between those of Western Asia and Europe (Heet, 1976; Heet, Dolinova, 2002). Previous data on Abkhazo-Adyghean groups are scarce. In this report, dermatoglyphic data on 51 groups of Caucasus, totaling about 10200 males, are analyzed. The sample includes eight Abkhazo-Adyghean populations (about 2400 males): Abkhazians (495), Abazins (217), Abadzekhs (125), Bzhedugs (348), Shapsugs (240), Chemguis (193), Cherkess (166), and Kabardins (645). Two multidimensional analyses were conducted using a set of key diagnostic traits. Generally, the Abkhazo-Adyghean samples are similar and homogeneous. The mean Generalized Dermatoglyphic Distance (GDD) equals 8.4, which is nearly twice less than that between groups of the entire Caucasus. Among the speakers of Caucasian languages, Abkhazo-Adygheans are closest to Kartvelians and Iranians (GDD ranges within 6.1-6.3) and somewhat less similar to the Turkic-speaking groups except Nogais and to Dagestanians (7.1-7.4), being furthest from the Nakh-speaking people. The South Caucasoid Complex is lower in Abkhazo-Adyghean and Kartvelian speakers (58.0 and 58.7, respectively) than in Turks (61.0), Dagestanians (62.3), Armenians (62.7), and Iranians (62.9). Two significant principal components differentiate Northern and Southern Caucasoids. All Abkhazo-Adyghean groups except Cherkess are included in the larger cluster (2/3 of the samples), occupying a central position there. The Bzhedugs and Shapsugs show the "southernmost" characteristics, Abkhazians, Abazins, Kabardins, Abadzekhs and Chemguis being the "northernmost". Cherkess group take a central position in the second cluster. Results of the study are discussed in the context of the population history of Caucasus.
Key words: dermatoglyphics, Caucasus, Abhazo-Adygean peoples
Contact information: Heet Henriette, e-mail: [email protected].
PALEODEMOGRAPHY OF THE 10TH—13TH-CENTURY POPULATIONS
IN THE TISZANTUL (HUNGARY)
Janos Istvan1, Szathmary Laszlo2
11nstitute of Environmental Science, College of Nyiregyha%a, Nyiregyha%a, Hungary
2Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of
Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
Result of craniological studies suggests that the structure of populations living in the Great Hungarian Plain (Hungary) might have changed considerably between the Age of the Hungarian Conquest (10th century) and the Arpadian Age (11th-13th century). This conclusion follows from the analysis of skeletons from cemeteries dating both to the Age of the Hungarian Conquest and to the Arpadian Age. Given the above result, the basic aim of this study was to perform comparative paleodemographic analysis of representative 10th and 11th-13th-century skeletal populations excavated from cemeteries in the Tiszantul region, the eastern part of the Great Hungarian Plain. The samples were separated into two groups according to archaeological periods (the Age of the Hungarian Conquest and the Arpadian Age). It was found that the 10th-century populations showed greater variation in mortality parameters. By contrast, the Arpadian Age populations, especially those dating to the 11th century showed a much more homogeneous demographic profile. Among the 11th-century populations, much lesser variation could be detected than among the 10th-century samples. It is possible that 10th-century populations composed of various ethnic groups of different origin settled in the Carpathian basin according to their former environment. This might have caused territorial isolation
Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Series 23 ANTHROPOLOGIYA — 3/2014
19th Congress of the European Anthropological Association Lomonosov MSU, Moscow, Russia, 25th - 29th August, 2014
