Department of theory and metodology

Introduction:
Saltovo-Maiytsky culture has been researched for more than one hundred years. During this period a lot of sites, which belong to that culture, were investigated and the ethnic origin of the people, who left it, was defined. Nevertheless, the accumulation of craniological materials has essential value for
confirmation or updating of existing data.
Materials and methods:
In the work the new craniological materials from six early medieval monuments from middle of river Don territory and one necropolis of Mamisondon from the territory of North Ossetia are presented. For sex and age definition we made complex study of skull and postcranial skeleton using modern scientific programs. The craniological analysis of materials was carried out using the R. Martin’s standard technique and the T.Wu additional sizes updated by V.P. Alekseev and G.F. Debets. The statistical processing of craniological materials has been carried out with use of several programs: Statistica 6.0 and Canoclas
V.E. Deryabin author’s program.
Results and discussion.
The intra group analysis of the burial ground of Mamisondon and the intergroup analysis of the new materials have been carried out. In the analysis we took into account data from the synchronous sites of the Northwest, Northeast and Central Caucasus and Transcaucasia, the lower Volga region, Don region and the Volga Bulgaria. The closest analogies for the Mamisondon studied series were found among series of skulls of Saltovo-Mayatsky culture. The new materials received from burial grounds of Don region, lay in the border of classical craniological characteristics of Saltovo-mayatsky culture representatives. Taking several burial grounds as examples, it is possible to fix the break of tendency in interrelations of funeral ceremony type with a certain anthropological type (Yamna and Catacomb burials and, respectively, brachycranic and dolichocranic anthropological types) revealed in early researches.
Conclusion.
The new craniological materials have been examined; the results of the research confirmed the existing idea of the migratory processes’ important role in early Middle Ages in formation of the population of Eastern Europe. The expansion of number of samples from such known complexes as Verkhnee Saltovo, Mayatsky and Dmitrovsky confirmed the tendency of the population of Saltovo-Mayatsky culture formation revealed earlier on the basis of several anthropological variants. On the example of the North Caucasian series of Mamisondon it was possible to track connection between the population of Saltovo-Mayatsky culture and the North Caucasian region, which are characterized by a primary dolichocrania with big longitudinal, small and average in cross-section diameters.

Вклад донских алан в культурогенез и этногенез населения Хазарского каганата, его наследников, тюркских, славянских и финно-угорских  соседей обсуждается на протяжении последних 100 лет. Для данной реконструкции этнической специфики раннесредневекового населения бассейна Среднего Дона применен широкий спектр современных методов. Выполнено компьютерное картографирование и пространственный анализ расположения катакомбных, ямных и кремационных могильников салтово-маяцкой культуры в междуречье Дона и Северского Донца. С помощью процедур ГИС-моделирования выделены ареалы плотности, построены тренды пространственного распространения погребальных сооружений разного типа,  а также прослежена их территориальная и этнокультурная взаимосвязь с синхронными фортификационными памятниками региона. Ареал катакомбных могильников (10 памятников) имеет наибольшую плотность на Осколе и на Сев. Донце.  Использовались методы анализа палео-ДНК. В 6 образцах была обнаружена мужская гаплогруппа G2 и в 6 образцах – женская гаплогруппа I. Такое единообразие полученных результатов считается редким явлением в генетических исследованиях и встречается только при работе с материалами чрезвычайно замкнутых популяций. Одонтологический источник свидетельствует об относительной однородности компонентов внутри аланского кластера, в отличие от индивидов из ямных погребений. Выявлена демографическая специфика аланских групп. Это умеренный или повышенный ожидаемый возраст смерти (около 37 лет), значительный процент детских погребений (27–34%%), существенная разница в ожидаемой продолжительности мужчин и женщин. Изучение изотопного состава коллагена кости позволило реконструировать диету населения как смешанную растительно-белковую, с преобладанием растительного компонента. Результаты анализа изотопов стронция демонстрируют низкую мобильность населения.

The contribution made by the alans from the Don valley to the cultural genesis and ethnоgenesis of the population of the Khazar khaganate and its successors – Turkic, slavic and Finno-ugrian neighbours – has been a subject for discussion over the last hundred years . In this article a wide range of modern methods has been used to reconstruct specific ethnic features of the early-medieval population of the middle Don . These include computerized cartography and spatial analysis of the arrangement of cemeteries containing
catacombs, pit-graves and cremations of the saltovo-mayatskaya culture in the Don/seversky Donets interfluve . with the help of GIs-modelling, areas with dense distribution of such cemeteries have been singled out and trends have been indicated regarding the spatial distribution of various types of funerary structures: their territorial and ethno-cultural links with fortifications of the same time have also been traced . The largest clusters of catacomb cemeteries (10 sites) have been recorded on the oskol and seversky Donets rivers . Analyses of palaeo-Dna have been carried out . In six samples male haplogroup G2 was found and
female haplogroup I in six other specimens . Such uniformity rarely occurs in genetic researchand is only found in extremely closed populations . The odontological source testifies to the relative uniformity of the components within the alan cluster, differing sharply for the individuals from pit-grave burials . Specific demographic features of the alanian groups have been singled out: moderate or above-average death expectancy (around 37 years of age), a significant percentage of child burials (27–34 %), a marked difference in life expectancy for men and women . Study of the isotope composition of bone collagen made it possible to reconstruct the population’s diet: a mixture of vegetables and protein with the vegetable component predominating. Results of the analysis of strontium isotopes show the
population’s low level of mobility.

Afanas’ev G.1,  Wen Sh.2, Tong X.2 ,  Wang L.2,  Wei L.2,  Dobrovol’skaya M.1, Korobov D.1,  Reshetova I.1,  Li H.2,

1Institute of Archaeology, RAS, Moscow, Russia;  2MOE Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, School of Life Sciences,  Fudan University, China.

Khazar's confederates in the Don basin  (archaeological, anthropological and genetic aspects).