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History of Anthropological Study of the Late Bronze Age Population of the Steppe Volga Region

Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The study presents the results of a historiographic analysis of scientific publications on the anthropological study of the Srubnaya culture population of the Volga steppe region. Special attention was paid to the issue of the evolution of theoretical and methodological foundations of research. As a result, two stages in the development of anthropological thought were identified: paleoanthropological and phenetic. The influence of the works of G.F. Debets on the formation of a paleoanthropological research program was noted. Analysis of the scientific publications from the first stage of historiography revealed a predominance of descriptive and typological research. The central focus of the works of G.F. Debets, V.V. Ginzburg, and B.V. Firstein and others was the study of skull morphology, the processes of ethnogenesis, and the classification of racial types within the anthropological structure of populations. During the study, it was found that the field of research within the framework of the paleoanthropological approach was characterized by the researchers’ particular interest in reconstructing specific aspects of historical processes. Within the framework of the phenetic approach, the primary focus of attention in the research of anthropologists, particularly those associated with the Moscow school, lies in the analysis of pathological conditions, the reconstruction of the paleodiet and the life-support system. At the same time, the paleoanthropological approach continued to be further developed within the Leningrad/St. Petersburg school. This development was accompanied by the widespread application of descriptive and multivariate statistical methods. In the concluding portion of the article, it is argued that the association of archaeologists and anthropologists within regional scientific centers has fostered a more robust interdisciplinary exchange, thereby enhancing the safety and completeness of paleoanthropological materials. This, in turn, has resulted in a significant expansion of the current understanding of the morphological features of the local territorial groups of the srubnaya culture, and contributed to the implementation of the complex approach in the analysis of anthropological materials.
DOI: 10.15688/nav.jvolsu.2026.3.2
Language: English
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7214739784
FWCI:
Cites: 4
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Related to: 10