Sharapova S.V., Razhev D.I., Kurto P.

New in studying feminine burials (after materials of the Sargatka culture from the Low Tobol basin)

The article considers feminine burials dated by the Iron Age (the Sargatka community). The sources being presented both by published and unpublished materials on excavations of mound burials from the forest steppe Low Tobol basin. This investigation differs from reconstructions undertaken before, regarding a social status and role of females in the Sargatka society, not so much by considering indirect indicators (the analysis of burial inventory and rites), as by investigating paleopathologies with a following correlation of anthropological and archaeological data.

The Sargatka culture, forest steppe Low Tobol basin, bioarchaeology, morphological types, sociocultural identity.

Fedotova T.K., Gorbacheva A.K.

Geographic variations of body dimensions with newborn babies and infants

The paper considers correlations between a somatic status with newborn babies and infants from Russia and former USSR in 1970s and a set of climatic and geographical parameters, such as longitude, latitude, average annual temperature, insolation level, and continentality of the climate. The amount of attracted data totals to about 80 thousand persons. Subject to discovery being correlations of weight/height parameters first of all with geographical latitude and longitude of a residence region. For newborn babies, they registered a tendency toward increasing of body length due to increasing of insolation level of a residence region, which illustrates a significance of ultraviolet for growth of bone tissue. They also registered west-east gradient of increasing body length with newborn babies together with increasing of geographical longitude of a residence place. Body dimensions with infants from different ethnic groups tend to decrease from north to south and from west to east, which approximately corresponds to definitive distribution of these parameters with adults from the same ethnic groups: the biggest body dimensions being with Baltic groups, gradually decreasing to groups of the Middle Asia and samplings from the Far East. As to infants of Slavic ethnic groups, such correlations have not been identified.  The investigation results should be interpreted bearing in mind that somatic development of both newborn babies and infants being considerably mediated by a maternal factor, leveling manifestation of individual genetic potential as well as manifestation of stable growth channel during the considered age periods. Since the investigation materials being represented by urbanized population, the influence of climatic-and-geographical parameters could be leveled by anthropogenic (urban) factor as well.

Newborn babies, infants, body length and weight, head and chest circumferences, chill climatic factors, insolation level.

Senotrusova P.O., Mandryka P.V., Poshekhonova O.Ye.

Features of burial rites with medieval population from the North Low Angara basin (after materials from the burial site of Prospikhino Shivera-IV)

Basing on the outcome of an archaeological and anthropological study regarding materials from the burial site of Prospikhino Shivera-IV, subject to determination being sex-and-age characteristics of the departed, particulars of the burial rite (temperature of cremation, its duration, the availability of animal bones), as well as «standard» sets of objects in the accompanying inventory for certain groups of the buried. The authors undertake reconstruction of certain ritual actions under funerals of people during the developed Middle Ages on the territory of the taiga zone of North Low Angara basin.

North Low Angara basin, the Middle Ages, archaeology, burial site, cremation, burial rite, craniology, osteology.