On the origin of the Early Iron Age Kashino population of Western Siberia (archaeological and dental non-metric data evidence)

Abstract

In this study, based on the analysis of the dental characteristics of the series from the burial ground Abatsky-3 (III–V centuries AD) we considered the questions of the origin of the Kashin population of Western Siberia of the early Iron Age. Despite the small number of the studied sample (16 individuals), the detailed morphological characteristics and the results of multivariate statistical analysis made it possible to clarify a number of hypotheses about the origins and relationships of the Early Iron Age Kashino population of Western Siberia. The specificity of the Kashino population from the Abatsky-3 burial ground lies in a high predominance of the “Eastern” dental non-metric complex, namely, in the high frequencies of the 6-cusps lower molars, the distal trigonid crest, and, to a lesser extent, the deflecting wrinkle on the first lower molars. This complex of characteristics clearly differentiates this population from the groups of the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age of Western Siberia and adjacent territories. According to the results of our study, it can be assumed that populations of the Kashino and Sargat cultures (latter is the closest to the representatives of the Kashino culture in the territorial and cultural terms) have different origin and their contacts were based more on cultural rather than population interactions. The results of the analysis favor to the hypothesis of the penetration of the Kama population related to the Ananyino and Glyadenovo cultures into the Trans-Urals and suggest the contribution of the Ananyino groups in the formation of the Kashino population.