Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 40 (3) 2012

Annotation:  Vegetation and Climate Changes in the Bolshoe Inyaptukskoe Lake Basin (North Baikal Plateau) in the Levantine Perspectives on the Middle to Upper Paleolithic “Transition” The Importance of Changes to microRNA in the Evolution of Homo Neanderthalensis and Homo Denisova Upper Paleolithic Portable Art in Light of Ethnographic Studies Statistical Analysis of Spatial Distribution of Ceramics from Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age Sites i Ornaments Made from Animal Teeth in Human Burials at Tuzovskiye Bugry-1 and their Relevance to Ethni The Bronze Age Rock Art of Malye Arbaty A 2367-year Tree-Ring Chronology for the Altai–Sayan Region (Mongun-Taiga Mountain Massif) Cultural Contact and Cultural Transfer in Medieval Western Eurasia Camisoles in the Traditional Male Costume of the Bukharan Jews (Part of the History of Clothes Cut f Western Siberian Folk Art: Northern Russian and Ural Traditions in Distaff Decoration Ethnic and Cultural Aspects of Nanai Healing Ritual Sculptures Ethnic and Cultural Identity of the Belorussian Migrants in Western Siberia Prehistoric and Recent Populations of Chukotka: A Paleophenetic Analysis Armenia in the Eurasian Ethnic Context of Late Classical Antiquity: Craniometric Evidence Dental Wear Patterns and Subsistence Activities in Early Nomadic Pastoralist Communities of the Cent   

Armenia in the Eurasian Ethnic Context of Late Classical Antiquity: Craniometric Evidence

A.Yu. Khudaverdyan.

Anna Palikyan (Metsoyan) in memoriam A statistical analysis of measurements of crania from the 2nd and 3rd century AD cemetery at Beniamin, Armenia, indicates considerable morphological heterogeneity. Between-group comparisons reveal affi nities between the Beniamin people and Scythians of the North Pontic region, the Sarmatians of the Volga–Ural region, and the Sacae of Western Central Asia. The results attest to intense migrations of nomads to Transcaucasia during Classical Antiquity and to the ethnic diversity of the Caucasian populations.

Keywords: Transcaucasia, Armenia, Beniamin, Classical Antiquity, craniology.