Cephaloscopic characteristics of the Amur Evenks (on the materials of the anthropological expedition AMSU-MSU-PRC in 2015-2016)
Authors:   Lomonosov Moscow State University, Anuchin Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Mokhovaya st., 11, Moscow, 125009, Russia, Maurer Andrey M. , Chirkova Alina Kh. ,   Lomonosov Moscow State University, Anuchin Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Mokhovaya st., 11, Moscow, 125009, Russia,   The Paleoethnology Research Center, Novaya ploshchad', 12/5, Moscow, 109012, Russia
Published: September 2022

Introduction. The article for the first time presents the results of the analysis of the cephaloscopic features of the Amur Evenks examined during the Amur Anthropological expedition in 2015 and 2016. The aim of the study is to characterize the Amur Evenks according to the program of descriptive features of the face and head and to consider them on the scale of cephaloscopic variability of the continental branch of the Asian–American race. Material and methods. Amur Evenks (men and women, N=83) were studied according to the classical cephaloscopic program, which included 32 descriptive signs. Most of the signs were determined by anthropological photographs. The expedition recorded the pigmentation of the skin and eyes, the color and shape of the hair, the degree of development of epicanthus. Empirical methods were used (counting the frequencies of feature scores and calculating their averages) and statistical methods (betweengroup analysis and plotting multidimensional scaling using special programs STATISTICA 8.0 and PAST). Results. Amur Evenks are characterized by dark pigmented hair and eyes, a fairly light skin tone. The hair on the head is straight and stiff. Beard growth is weak, eyebrows – average. The face is strongly flattened, with a strong or medium protrusion of the cheekbones and a weakly developed chin. The eye slit is of small width with an oblique internal slope. Epicanthus is either absent or poorly developed, the fold of the upper eyelid is strongly developed. The nose profile is concave. The upper lip is medium-high, proheilic. Compared with other Tunguska groups, Amur Evenks are characterized by darker pigmentation of the eyes, lower frequency of occurrence of epicanthus, a more concave back of the nose, a proheilic upper lip, a relatively high nose bridge, a strong inclination of the forehead and a developed brow. The results of the intergroup multivariate analysis illustrated the greatest convergence of the Amur Evenks with the groups of Central Asia, and with the groups of Northeast Asia, namely with the Yukaghirs and Evens. Conclusion. According to the totality of the cephaloscopic features of the Amur Evenks, they can be attributed to representatives of the Baikal type of the North Asian race, but at the same time, signs of the Katanga anthropological variant can be traced in their morphological type. The probable reason for the rapprochement of the Amur Evenks with the Central Asian samples may be the territorial proximity of the populations of the Amur Evenks to Yakutia, which could cause possible metisation processes between Evenks and Yakuts – representatives of the Central Asian type.