Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 38 (3) 2010

Annotation:  Three Scenarios of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition. Scenario 1: The Middle to Upper Paleo Chronology and Periodization of Upper Paleolithic Sites in Mongolia Projectile Points and their Implications The “Malta Realism”: On Interpreting Siberian Anthropomorphic Figurines from the Upper Paleolithic Private Collection of Seima-Turbino Bronzes from the Irtysh: The Tragedy of a Unique Site Destroyed Sargat Burial Sites in the Middle Irtysh Area: A Gender Analysis The Archaeological and Geophysical Study of Defense Works Yenisei Kyrgyz “Forts” in the Russian Reports of the 17th Century and the Archaeological Reality The Wusun in Northeastern Central Asia Eighteenth Century Trends in the Development of Buryat Clothing Field Trip by B.N. Gorodkov and G.M. Dmitirev-Sadovnikov to the Vakh River Valley in 1913 A Comparison of the Medieval and Modern Populations of the Novgorod Region, Based on Facial Reconst The Origin of the Late Medieval Population of the Novgorod Republic (13th–16th Centuries), Based on   

The Origin of the Late Medieval Population of the Novgorod Republic (13th–16th Centuries), Based on Craniometric Data

S.L. Sankina.

The results of a multivariate analysis of craniometric data suggest that the late medieval population of the Novgorod Republic (13th–16th centuries) was biologically heterogeneous. Certain populations evidently originated from the earlier (11th–13th centuries) people of the same territory, whereas another, more numerous component was akin to late groups of Baltic Finns. The fi rst component is paralleled by Mesolithic and Early Neolithic series from Zveinieki, Latvia, by the crania of the Battle Axe people of Estonia, and by others from the Ladoga Channel. The second component, exhibiting Sami-like features, resembles the Neolithic populations of the forest zone of the Russian Plain and a Mesolithic group from Yuzhny Oleniy (Southern Reindeer) Island on Lake Onega. The coexistence of groups with markedly Caucasoid features with those showing an “eastern” tendency during the Mesolithic, Neolithic, and the Middle Ages evidences multiple migrations from the east and the southwest.

Keywords: Novgorod Republic, Slavs, Finns, Balts, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Middle Ages, craniometry, population history.