New Dental Anthropology Data of the Pazyryk Culture Population of the Altai Mountains

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2022-2/174-192

Abstract

New data on the dental anthropology of the Scythian time (VI–III centuries BC) population of the northern local variant of the Pazyryk archaeological culture are introduced into scientific use. The data were obtained from 117 individuals representing the population of The Middle and Lower Katun River and the valley of the Charysh River. The purpose of the study is to test, based on dental data, the hypothesis of the close ties between the Scythian time population of the northern variant of the Pazyryk culture and the Kamenskay and Staroaleyskaya cultures of the Upper Ob region. The study revealed the proximity of the dental complex of the population of the Pazyryk culture of the Middle and Lower Katun on the one hand and both samples of the Staroaleyskaya and some samples of Kamenskaya cultures on the other. The individuals buried in Khankarinsky Dol ground, located in the foothills of the North-Western Altai, displayed a greater similarity with the Pazyryk population of the Central and South-Eastern Altai than with one of the Northern Altai. This conclusion is consistent with previously obtained archeological data. Thus, anthropological data confirm that the Pazyryk population, namely its northern variant, participated in the formation of the Staroaleyskaya culture.