page 95–104 RUS
ÓÄÊ 572:902(470.40)
Cranial materials of the Mordvins from the burial grounds of the Upper Sura River and Moksha River regions in the 1st millennium AD
Ikonnikov, Dmitriy S.,
PhD in History, Penza State University, Penza, Russian Federation, e-mail: ikonnikof-ds@mail.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0221-2520
Kalmin, Oleg V.,
MD,
Penza State University,
Penza, Russian Federation, e-mail:
ovkalmin@gmail.com,
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4084-967X
Stavitsky, Vladimir V.,
PhD in History, Penza State University, Penza, Russian Federation, e-mail: stawiczky.v@yandex.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5957-3781
Kalmina, Ol'ga A.,
MD, Penza State University, Penza, Russian Federation, e-mail: ovkalmin@gmail.com, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1083-2508
Abstract
The craniological characteristics of the Mordvin population during the 1st millennium AD remain understudied. This article presents craniometric data derived from a comprehensive series of skulls from Mordvin necropolises dating to the 2nd–7th centuries AD, located in the Penza Region. The study aims to provide a detailed description of the craniological materials and to determine their position within the broader context of other Mordvin craniological samples. The craniometric analysis was conducted in accordance with R. Martin's methodology. Data processing involved analytical and synthetic approaches, employing a range of statistical techniques. To assess potential Mongoloid admixture, calculations of the indices proposed by G.F. Debets were performed, such as the preauricular faciocerebral index and the facial skeleton flattening index. Intergroup comparisons were carried out using the Mahalanobis squared distances (D2). The male and female components of the sample are characterised by dolichocrania, a relatively wide and low facial skeleton, slightly flattened at the nasomalar level and sharply profiled at the zygomaxillary angle level, and a high nasal bridge. Males exhibit a very small nasal angle, while females exhibit an average nasal angle. Morphologically, the craniological series is heterogeneous. The male subgroup of the series presumably includes a component characterised by a relatively short cerebral section of the skull and a flattened facial skeleton. Comparative analysis of the studied series with other Mordvin craniological samples from various historical periods has revealed a tendency toward convergence with certain series from the 2nd millennium AD in the Moksha River Region. These findings suggest a possibility of partial genetic continuity among the Mordvins of this region over the past two millennia.
Keywords: Mordvins, craniology, ethnogenesis, Upper Posurye, Primokshanye, Great Migration Period, Middle Ages.
© Ikonnikov D.S., Kalmin O.V., Stavitsky V.V., Kalmina O.A., 2026
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Received 12.10.2025
Accepted 20.11.2025
Article is published: 15.03.2026
Funding. The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No 25-28-20415 “Ethnogenesis of the peoples of the Middle Volga region in the era of the Great Migration of Peoples”.
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