The paper addresses chronological issues with burial 2 from kurgan 1 from Filippovka 1 burial ground, a semantic analysis of some uncovered objects of art, as well as the anthropological type/genetic status of the buried woman. Using complex research methods (molecular-genetic, mineralogical, X-ray, technological, traceological analyses, methods of age-sex diagnostics, craniology, multidimensional analysis of principal components and search for archaeological analogies) ensured the authenticity of determining manufacturing techniques and anthropological studies as well as modern ideas about the cultural and chronological interpretation of the presented archaeological materials. A study of horse harness items abd typological attribution of arrowheads and beads made it possible to date the burial within the middle — third quarter of the 4th century BC. The context of items in the burial, the stylistics of their forms and structure convincingly showed that certain items were not used in everyday/social life, but rather served as some sacred attributes used in religious ceremonies and ritual practices only. A search for analogies to the iconography and images from these relics made it possible to clarify the compositional semantics and suggested their purpose in sacred scenarios. The anthropological type distinctive features and genetic structures, as well as the presence of traces of deliberate artificial deformation of the skull, confirm the local, South Ural, origin of the woman.

The paper is devoted to the study of ethnogenetic connections in the anthropological appearance of early nomads of Western Kazakhstan, the Southern Cisurals, the Lower Volga region and the Lower Don region in Sauromatian-Early Sarmatian time (6 th-1 st cc. BC). To achieve this goal, cranial series, numbering 1000 skulls, have been analyzed. The material has been studied using the methods of one-dimensional and multi-dimensional statistics. The results of comparative analysis let reveal the significant morphological similarity of chronological and territorial groups and, in some cases, their absolute identity. First of all, such similarity can be explained by the community of European-ethnicity genetic substrate, ascending to the population of the Late Bronze Age (the population of East Andronov and Karasuk archaeological cultures). Its appearance could be identified as the type of ancient east representatives of European ethnicity. The similar features are the consequence of both the integration processes based on this substrate and the cultural complex with specific habitat, which allowed carrying out the nomadic way of production. Special features in culture and anthropological appearance of the population had been accumulating during six centuries. These features had formed a cultural and historical community and received the name of the Scythian-Sarmatian world. We should also consider another way of interactions between ethnic groups, in which they can be described as constant rearrangements within the nomads of the Eurasian steppes of that time. This scenario is based on the ethnographic materials of the nomads of Modern History (Kazakhs, Kalmyks, etc.). Individual families, clans or, for example, a group of young men used to break away from a kind of their tribal array for some reason and were included in the related nomadic associations.

The article is devoted to the craniological materials of the early Iron Age from the kurgans of Krivaya Luka tract in the Astrakhan region, which were excavated during ten field seasons. The rich anthropological material was obtained as a result of the excavations studied by A.V. Shevchenko, A.A. Kazarnitskiy, M.A. Balabanova, L.T. Yablonskiy. The anthropological materials of the Early Iron Age consisted of 85 skulls are studied in the current article using the traditional method of simple and multivariate statistics. As a result of the study, it was found out that the morphological appearance of cultural-chronological groups is similar to the rest of the synchronous population both from other burials grounds of the Lower Volga region and from adjacent territories. The Sarmatian type or the type of the ancient Eastern Caucasian is inherent for a small group of the pre-Savromatian period, as well as for the groups of the Savromatian and Early Sarmatian period. A small Middle Sarmatian male group demonstrates the combinations that characterize the subsequent Late Sarmatian population – the type of long-headed Caucasians. Whereas the female craniological type of the Late Sarmatian time is characterized by a set of features that define it as a Mongoloid-Caucasian mestizo. Both the total group of skulls and individual cultural-chronological groups turned out to be heterogeneous in terms of the intragroup structure. The anthropological type of the Early Iron Age population who left burials in the Krivaya Luka tract demonstrates diachronic variability, which was apparently associated with migrations. However, in the pre-Savromatian period, in comparison with the Late Bronze Age, this territory was occupied mostly by the type of ancient Eastern Caucasians which combines a mesobrachicranial lowvaulted cerebral box with a wide face, the horizontal profiling of which at the upper level is weakened, and the nose protruding sharply towards the profile line. The latter type remained there until the start of the Common era, and starting from the Middle Sarmatian time it changed to the type of long-headed Caucasians, which is associated with the penetration of alien groups. Among these migrants, apparently, there were also found carriers of the mixed Mongoloid-Caucasian complex.

The article is devoted to the custom of artificial deformation of skull which was practiced by the early nomads of the late Sarmatian time in the steppe zone of Eastern Europe. The issues of spread, origin and functional load of this custom are being resolved on the basis of the mass paleoanthropological materials from the burial mounds in the Southern Urals, the Lower Volga and the Lower Don region. The data show that the proportion of deformed skulls varies from 50 per cent to 100 per cent while the dating of the complex, where the materials with deformation marks come from, has shown that no gradual penetration occurred in the late Sarmatian society. Due to the fact that the late Sarmatian society had some peculiar features (e.g., children were not buried under the mounds and only part of women had this kind of privilege and also the high injury level of the skeletons caused by hostilities) it is possible to consider that the custom of the artificial deformation was a constant symbol of intra-group solidarity and inter-group cultural differences. One can hardle define the connection between the practice of deformation and such phenomena as fashion and esthetics, since along with the late Sarmatians a large number of settled and nomadic tribes practiced this custom.

Introduction. The article discusses the issue of possible connections of the Sauromat-Early Sarmatian population of the 6th – 3rd centuries BC of the Southern Urals, the Lower Volga region and the Lower Don with the synchronous groups of the Northern Black Sea region according to physical anthropology. This problem is directly related to the origin of the Scythians, which still remains controversial. The review of scientific literature has shown that the problem of anthropological relationships between these two groups of early nomads in Eastern Europe has not yet been considered. Methods and materials. Testing for the existence of models of ethnogenetic relationships was carried out using intergroup comparisons of craniometric data. Mass material on the early nomads of the Sauromat-Early Sarmatian period of the Southern Urals, the Lower Volga region, the Lower Don and the steppe Scythians of the Northern Black Sea region was processed by the canonical method, followed by the consideration of the proximity of Mahalanobis. For this, digital information on 48 male and 30 female craniological series was used. Results. The greatest morphological similarity with the eastern Sauromat-Early Sarmatian populations is possessed by an elite group from the royal kurgans (Aleksandropol and Zheltokamenka), as well as local groups from the Sivash and Nosak regions. In all compared groups, the type of ancient Eastern Caucasians prevails, which combined mesobrachicrania with a weakened horizontal facial profile at the upper level. Thus, the results of the study showed the presence of ethnogenetic relationships in the studied early nomads, which either confirms the hypothesis about the possible influence of the Sauromat-Early Sarmatian component on changes in the intragroup structure of the Northern Black Sea populations, or indicate the presence of a single genetic substrate of South Siberian origin.