Population of Fergana in the First Half of the 1st Millennium AD

Zhan Qian on the Ancient Ferganians

Written sources vividly characterize the population of Fergana and neighboring countries. Zhan Qian, who visited Fergana in the 2nd century BC, describes the appearance of the ancient Ferganians as follows: "The inhabitants generally have sunken heads and thick beards" (Bichurin, 1950). A similar description of the Ferganians' appearance is found in later chronicles (Bichurin, 1950). Thus, Chinese chronicles testify to the Europoid nature of the population of Fergana—deep-set eyes and thick beards are not characteristic of the Mongoloids of Central Asia. These features characterize the Europoid population.

Anthropological materials from burial mounds discovered in various areas of the region also show that the population of Fergana in the first half of the 1st millennium AD was Europoid and belonged to two types of the Europoid race: the dolichocephalic Mediterranean type and the type of the Central Asian interfluve, characterized by brachycephaly (Kiyatkina, 1975). Four skulls from the Kairagach burial site also indicate that representatives of two types of the Europoid race lived in the area. One skull from the excavations of Yu. A. Zadneprovsky, according to V.V. Ginzburg, belonged to a transitional type from the Andronovo type to the type of the Central Asian interfluve (Ginzburg, 1956).

Three skulls from our excavations, according to S.S. Tur, also belonged to representatives of the Europoid race.

One of the skulls combines features characteristic of both Mediterranean race skulls and those of the Central Asian interfluve type. The other two skulls belong to the type of the Central Asian interfluve.

In the first half of the 1st millennium AD, the custom of lifelong skull deformation was widespread in Central Asia.

Formed skulls have also been found in the burial mounds of the Fergana foothills (Ginzburg, 1956). No deformed skulls have been discovered in Kairagach so far.

However, finds from the Kairagach estate allow us to conclude that the population of southwestern Fergana was familiar with this custom. This refers to the finds in the Kairagach complex of sculptures representing revered ancestors. Since the sculptures are associated with ancestor worship, they embody quite specific individuals and accurately convey the ethnic type and portrait resemblance of the sculpture to its prototype. All figures adhere to a certain canon. All statues have large heads with flattened foreheads, which apparently indicates that the prototypes of the images had skull deformation. All sculptures have large protruding noses and elongated almond-shaped eyes. These features indicate their belonging to the Europoid race. At the same time, the structure of the face allows us to infer that the prototypes of the sculptures belonged to two types of the Europoid race—the type of the Central Asian interfluve and the Mediterranean type.

Another find from Kairagach gives an idea of the appearance of the population of the area. On the floor of one of the rooms of the estate, a jug was found, on the body of which a sharp object has depicted the face of a man with prominent features. He has a large, strongly protruding nose with a hump, a massive, heavy chin protruding forward, and a large mouth stretched in a smile, which causes the parietal part of the skull to have an almost conical shape. On his head is a helmet-like headdress. It seems that the master who left the image on the vessel was familiar with the canons to which the images on coins adhered: the image of the ruler's head strictly in profile and the head turned to the left. However, the vessel depicted some real person, not a royal figure, drawn from a coin. The image on the vessel, like the sculptures, conveys the appearance of a person of the Europoid race with ring-shaped skull deformation.

Zhan Qian, who visited Central Asia in the late 2nd century BC, left the first and quite detailed description of Fergana. He notably wrote about the economic activities of the Ferganians. He noted that Fergana has fertile lands suitable for sowing rice and wheat. "The Dawan people lead a sedentary life, engage in agriculture, and sow rice and wheat. They have grape wine. There are many Argamak horses. These horses have bloody sweat and come from 'heavenly horses.' 'In Dawan and the surrounding area, wine is made from grapes; wealthy people store wine for more than 1000 dan. It lasts long, for several decades, and the wine does not spoil.'" An interesting description of the customs of the Ferganians is their penchant for trade: the inhabitants of Fergana are skilled in trade, competing for small profits. At the same time; "These countries have no silk at all and do not know how to cast coins and dishes" (Bichurin, 1950).

Kurgans of Tashravata