The Europoid-Mongoloid Appearance of the Kyrgyz in the Medieval Era. Historical Anthropology. Part - 2

The Appearance of Kyrgyz in the Medieval Era

The early medieval population of Kyrgyzstan, judging by materials from burial mounds in the Aksai, Talas, and Chui valleys (Kukyalda, Akbeshem, Tik-Turmas, Kurgak-Karabeit, Beshkarakchi, and Tashbashat), was extremely mixed and morphologically more diverse.

Intergroup analysis, which allowed for comparison of these series with Central Asian series from the Fergana Valley, the Khorezm Oasis, the middle Zarafshan, as well as from Kazakhstan, Altai, Tuva, Mongolia, Baikal region, Khakassia, and the Far East, revealed various genetic connections. Thus, the early medieval population of the Aksai, Talas, and Chui valleys (Kurgak-Karabeit, Beshkarakchi-Tashbashat) turned out to be close to the tribes of mountainous Altai, the "Yenisei" Kyrgyz of the Turkic period from Khakassia, tribes from northern Kazakhstan and Mongolia.

In contrast, other populations from the Aksai (Kukyalda) and Chui (Akbeshem) valleys are more closely related to the population of the Aral Sea region (Kuyukkala), the Turkic period of Kazakhstan, the Pre-Irtysh region, as well as Siberia and the Far East. These include the Turks of Tuva (Chaata), Uyghurs of Tuva, Turks of the Kuznetsk Basin (Ur-Bedari), the population of the Turkic period of the Far East and Mongolia.

The populations of Kukyalda, Akbeshem, Kurgak-Karabeit, and Beshkarakchi-Tashbashat differ significantly from populations from Khorezm, Sogd, the Fergana Valley, and Ustrushana. Thus, in the early Middle Ages, the population of Kyrgyzstan differed morphologically from the populations of the western and central regions of Central Asia and was much closer to the tribes that came to this territory from Semirechye, Siberia, Altai, Khakassia, Tuva, and Mongolia.

The study of geographical variability of traits in Central Asia during this era, conducted by T.K. Khojayev (1987), revealed that a number of important morphological traits are subject to directed geographical distribution. In the northeast, there are brachycranic groups with small skull length and width, a wide and high, slightly profiled face, and a medium or weakly protruding nose. The entire listed complex of traits determines their belonging to the southern Siberian anthropological type. Therefore, it confirms the previously expressed assumption that in the early Middle Ages, compared to previous periods, the directions of ethnic and racial connections between the east and west of Central Asia changed radically (Khojayev, 1981, 1987).

The developed Middle Ages are represented by three craniological series from the IX-XII centuries, obtained from burial mounds in the Talas (Beishike), Chui (Tegirmensay) valleys, and southern Pre-Issyk-Kul (Kandyube).

The population of Beishike is Europoid, with a small admixture of Mongoloid elements. In terms of the degree of expression of Mongoloid features, it occupies an intermediate position between modern Uzbeks and early Turks of Kazakhstan (Khojayev, 1975, 1976). The population that left the burial mound at Kandyube (ancient Ton) is Europoid with a significant admixture of Mongoloid traits (Khojayev, 1975, 1976). Materials from the IX-XI centuries from the burial mound Tegirmensay in the Chui valley, studied by N.N. Miklashevskaya (1964), revealed that the burials were left by carriers of the Central Asian race.

A comparative analysis of materials from these three burial mounds was conducted with synchronous series from Central Asia and Kazakhstan, the Lower Volga region, Baikal region, and Transbaikal. A closeness of the paleopopulation from Beishike with the medieval inhabitants of Merv (ceramic quarter), Sogd (Kulagaitepa), middle Syr Darya (Uturliktepa), ancient Tashkent oasis (Kaunchinskaya culture), Ustrushana (Khonyailov, Mechetli), and Fergana (Kuva) was discovered.

The population of Kandyube has analogies (connections) with quite Mongoloid inhabitants of Western and Central Kazakhstan, Baikal region. The population from Tegirmensay has pronounced Mongoloid features, which bring them closer to the inhabitants of Transbaikal from the VIII-XIII centuries.

Numerous data, primarily anthropological, as well as archaeological, reveal the migration of tribes from the northeastern regions of Central Asia. Anthropological data allow us to speak of several such "waves" of resettlement. In the medieval era, both early and especially developed, there was a migration of tribes from Kyrgyzstan and adjacent areas to northern Fergana (Chartak), Eastern (Khonyailov) and Western (Jizzakh) Ustrushana, Central (Kulagaitepa) and Southern (Altyntepa, Sigirtepa) Sogd, Merv (Sultankala).

This movement represents a homogeneous large "wave" of population with a mixed Europoid-Mongoloid appearance.

Anthropological material from burial mounds located along this route indicates a gradual increase from east to west in the concentration of traits of eastern anthropological complexes (Khojayev, 1987; Askarov, Buryakov, Khojayev, 1990).

Six Historical Periods in the Anthropological Appearance of Kyrgyz. Historical Anthropology. Part - 1