Historical Anthropology of the Kyrgyz. Part - 3

The Late Medieval Era

The Late Medieval Era is represented by two craniological series from a burial ground located near Bishkek, a Muslim cemetery from the Karakhanid period known as Krasnaya Rechka in the Chui Valley.

The first series from the Nestorian burials of Bishkek belongs to a Europoid population. It exhibited features of the race of the Central Asian interfluve to the same extent as the early Usuns of Karakol and Chylpek.

The second series, left by the Sogdians who inhabited cities along the trade route between China and Western countries, is also of Europoid type from the Central Asian interfluve. There is no Mongoloid admixture noted in either series.

In the intergroup analysis, data from synchronous craniological series from Central Asia and Kazakhstan, Baikal region, Transbaikal region, and Mongolia were used.

The studied population groups from Kyrgyzstan are close to the rural and urban populations of Central Asia (Frinkent, Khoja Varukh, Janpykkala, Mizdakhkan, Kushanatau, and Kalmykrylgan) and differ from representatives of the South Siberian race from Kazakhstan, Baikal region, Transbaikal region, and Mongolia.

As noted above (Khojayoё 1987), since the early Middle Ages, there has been a movement of Sogdian populations eastward along the Transasian trade route. In the eastern regions of Central Asia, burial monuments left by Sogdian or Turkic-Sogdian populations have been identified. Sogdian cultural traditions are felt in the Semirechye, Chacha, Ustrushana, Talas, Alaï, and Chui valleys. Traces of such migration have been found in the Baikal region, in the valley of the Unga River. This is evidenced by data obtained from the study of skulls from burials at the Ulan-Bor settlement, which were identified as typical Europoid, with features of the race of the Central Asian interfluve (Gokhman, 1968). They have close analogies with Nestorian skulls from Semirechye and many series from Khorezm, Sogd, and Ustrushana of the late Middle Ages.

Representative craniological material, from which one can judge the morphological appearance of the modern Kyrgyz population, was collected in 1954 from abandoned cemeteries of the 18th-19th centuries in three villages: Akbeshi of the Chui region, Bolshie Uryukty of the Issyk-Kul region, and Kulanak of the Tian Shan region. The skulls are characterized by a high, broad, rather flat, and orthognathous face, low nasion, and small angle of nasal projection, medium-high and wide orbits, medium size of the longitudinal and large size of the transverse diameters of the cranial vault, with a weak degree of relief expression. According to the main racial diagnostic features, they belong to representatives of the South Siberian race, which is confirmed by a previously expressed hypothesis based on the results of somatological studies (Miklashevskaya, 1959). The presence of elements of the Central Asian race among the Kyrgyz is undeniable.

For comparative analysis, we used craniological series close to the present time, belonging to representatives of the race of the Redneasian interfluve (Uzbeks from cities and rural settlements without clan and with clan-tribal divisions); Transcaspians (Turkmen); Near Easterners (Armenians); South Siberians (Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tuvans); Central Asians (Kalmyks, Mongols) and Uralic (Khanty, Mansi).

The Kyrgyz fall into the zone of mixed populations, possessing Europoid-Mongoloid features, which also include separate groups: from Kokand (Akmazar), belonging to the Fergana Karakalpaks; Bukhara region (Sheburganata), possibly Kazakh; various regions of Kazakhstan. There is also a significant similarity with groups that have more pronounced Mongoloid features and belonged to the Central Asian race (Tuvans, Kalmyks, and Mongols).

At the same time, the Kyrgyz show similarity with less Mongoloid populations: from Samarkand (Nurata), Namangan (Pap) regions, and Shugnan-Shahdara (Pamir).

The last series refers to a population formed as a result of mixed marriages between Pamiris and Kyrgyz.

They are distant from both urban and rural groups, whether Europoid or with a small Mongoloid admixture.

The study of the dynamics of the main features and indicators over two and a half millennia has shown that the morphological appearance of the population of Kyrgyzstan has undergone a number of divergent changes. Thus, being meso-brachycranial during the Saka-Usun period, it gradually becomes brachycranial already in the Middle Ages, especially in the late period, and remains so to the present day. At the same time, the height of the head gradually decreases from the Saka-Usun period to the present. The most significant changes occur during the early Middle Ages.

The width of the face gradually increases from the Saka period to the developed Middle Ages and becomes more noticeable closer to the present. However, in the late Middle Ages, compared to other periods, the face became much narrower. The same pattern of changes is observed in the upper face height and upper facial index in the first three periods, where their increase is noted up to the early Middle Ages. Closer to the present, its height dimensions increase, while the index decreases, approaching the Saka level. Throughout the studied period, the height of the face increases, while the size of the index remains generally constant with sharp fluctuations in different periods.

The dynamics of changes in the horizontal profiling of the face is determined by the mean indicators. In general, both traits have the same dynamics and increase toward the present. An epochal increase is revealed up to the early Middle Ages, a further decrease to the late Middle Ages, and a sharp increase to the present.

The values of the angle of nasal projection show changes that remain within Europoid values until the late Middle Ages. However, in the last period, its values decrease significantly, falling within Mongoloid values.

The integrating indicator of the flattening of the facial skeleton and the bony nose (ULS) {Debets, 1968} remains unchanged until the developed Middle Ages, sharply decreases in the late period, and also sharply increases to the present, reaching maximum values in the Central Asian scale.

Overall, when considering the dynamics of the aforementioned traits, periods with significant fluctuations are identified. Such epochs include the early medieval period, to a greater extent - the late Middle Ages, and the period close to the present. It is likely that such significant changes are related to historical, ethnic, and migratory processes occurring on the territory of Kyrgyzstan.

Europoid-Mongoloid Appearance of the Kyrgyz in the Middle Ages. Historical Anthropology. Part - 2