Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 42 (3) 2014

Annotation:  Zooarchaeology and Taphonomy of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic in Bondi Cave, Republic of Georgia Development of a Virtual 3D Model of Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains Holocene Seal Imagery in the Lake Baikal Region of Eastern Siberia The Organization of the Mortuary Space in the Late Bronze Age: The Stary Sad Burial Ground, Baraba F Cheek-Pieces for a Horse Harness from the Kamenny Ambar Settlement “Hoofed Carnivore” Image Carved on a Bone Spoon from the Sara Burial Ground, Eastern Orenburg Region Subsistence and Ritual Practices at the Polui Fortifi ed Settlement, Western Siberia (Based on Fauna Revisiting the Chronology of the Early Sculptural Art of Kashmir, India New Belt of the “Byzantine Circle” from the Medieval Bayanovsky Burial Ground in the Perm Territory Alloy Composition in the Prestigious Silver Ware of the Old Turkic Period of Southern Siberia Concerning the History of Russian Archaeology in the Studies of A.D. Pryakhin (For the 75th Annivers Elements of the Inau Cult in Ethnic and Cultural Contacts of the Southern Far East The Mount of Yzykh Tagh with Relation to the Sacred Space and Ritual of the Khakas (Late 19th–20th C Native Populations of the Northern Altai: Demographic Processes of the Late 19th–Early 21st Century Bilateral Asymmetry of Long Bones in Bronze and Early Iron Age Pastoralists of the Altai   

Bilateral Asymmetry of Long Bones in Bronze and Early Iron Age Pastoralists of the Altai

S.S. Tur.

The aim of the study is to explore patterns of directional asymmetry (DA) of long bones among the ancient pastoralists of the Russian Altai. Long bones of the upper and lower limbs and clavicles were measured bilaterally in two temporally diverse skeletal samples dating to the Middle Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. Statistically signifi cant sex and chronological differences were found in DA of the upper limb diaphyseal breadths, which are strongly infl uenced by mechanical factors during life. These results suggest that manual loadings were bilaterally symmetric in males, but not in females. Sexual dimorphism in the upper-limb-use asymmetry was greater in the later group than in the earlier group. Besides, the female subgroups exhibited strong DA in features evidencing biomechanical stress on the femur. Temporal differences in DA of the upper limb length are possibly due to changes in the level of environmental and/or genetic stress.

Keywords: Bilateral asymmetry, physical activity, long bones, pastoralists, Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, Scythian period, Altai.