Dental Anthropological Status of the Pskov Population in the 15th-17th Centuries (Preliminary Results)

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2025-4/331-347

Authors

Keywords:

dental anthropology, paleoanthropology, biological anthropology, Pskov, North-West of Russia

Abstract

The biological issues of the formation of the northwestern Russia population are the focus of many works by Russian and Soviet anthropologists. From a dental anthropological perspective, data on ancient Russian and relatively modern populations are quite representative. However, there are some gaps in how the periods of the Late Middle Ages and the modern era are represented. The author examined more than 600 crania from the 15th–17th centuries according to the dental anthropology program. Half of these crania originate from the territory of Pskov (raw data on the sample are being published). Dental anthropology allows us to compare cranial samples with the modern population without additional calculations (unlike craniometry). Data on the North-West from different eras were compared. The first findings reveal morphological differences between the populations of the Late Russian period and the population of the 1970s – 80s. This is likely due to the trans-epochal variability and the cross-border status of the Pskov population. This indicates the contact character of the region. The aspect of the population history revealed by this study is associated with the contacts between different dental anthropological complexes from several regions — central Russian, the Baltic region, and Northern Europe.

Author Biography

  • Pavel Smertin, Institute of Humanitarian Studies, Perm Federal Center of Ural Branch RAS

    Smertin, Pavel R. — Researcher, Institute of Humanitarian Studies, Perm Federal Center of Ural Branch RAS (Perm, Russian Federation); Postgraduate Student, Perm State Humanitarian Pedagogical University (Perm, Russian Federation). E-mail: paulsmert@mail.ru  ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5765-3573

    For Citation: Smertin, P. R. 2025. Dental Anthropological Status of the Pskov Population in the 15th-17th Centuries (Preliminary Results). Herald of Anthropology (Vestnik Antropologii). 4: 331-347.

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Published

14.12.2025

Issue

No. 4 (2025): Herald of Anthropology (Vestnik antropologii)

Section

Physical anthropology