POPULATION OF THE CHERNYAKHIV CULTURE. A CASE STUDY OF THE FEMALE CRANIOLOGICAL SERIES FROM Viitenky BURIAL GROUND

Abstract

The anthropological material comes from the excavations of the burial ground near the village of Viitenky (Bohodukhiv district of Kharkiv region) in the Dnipro-Donets watershed area. The site was explored by the German-Slavic Archaeological Expedition of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (headed by M. Liubichev) and the Eurasian Department of the German Archaeological Institute starting from 2005. On average, the female group is characterized by a medium to long cranial length, combined with a narrow cranial width. According to the cranial index, it sits on the borderline between dolichocranic and mesocranic forms. The individual skulls exhibit variations ranging from sharply dolichocranic to brachycranic. The cranial height falls into the large category. The least forehead width falls into the medium category. The face is of medium height and width. According to the upper facial index, it belongs to the mesen category. The horizontal facial profiling is sharp. The orbits are small in size, and according to the orbital index, they are mesoconch. In terms of linear dimensions, the nose is of medium height and narrow, and according to the nasal index, it is narrow. The nasal bones protrude prominently, and the nasal root is high. According to the results of the craniological analysis, the female component of the population from Viitenky is heterogeneous. On average, it fits well into the range of variation of female samples of the Cherniakhiv mass of Ukraine. On average, the Viitenky female group demonstrates the greatest morphological and statistical similarity to separate Cherniakhiv series located on the right bank of the Middle Dnieper (Zhurivka, Cherniakhiv), as well as to individual samples from the Lower Dnieper and the Northern Pontic region (Havrylivka, Koblevo). It is worth noting that these Cherniakhiv groups demonstrate statistical affinity to a number of series of another cultural affiliation, namely to groups from the burial grounds of the Late Scythians of the Lower Dnieper region and Crimea, as well as to cranial samples from certain classical sites of the Northern Pontic region. On average, the female sample from Viitenky demonstrates a southern character of anthropological connections, but it also includes a group of women who have anthropological analogies in the series of the Baltic zone, which coincides with the direction of connections observed in the male part of the population. The different directions of links of the male and female series clearly illustrate that variations occurred during the formation of the male and female components of the Viitenky population. Such a situation is entirely predictable for this culture and is documented in the anthropological material from a number of burial grounds across its various regions.