Biological affinities and adaptations of Bronze Age Bactrians: III. An initial craniometric assessment

Abstract

Discovery of a previously unknown Bronze Age civilization (Oxus Civilization) centered on the oases of Central Asia immediately raised questions concerning the origin and interregional impacts of this civilization. Fifteen craniometric variables from 12 Bronze Age samples--encompassing 544 adults from Central Asia, Iran, the Indus Valley, and Anatolia--are compared to test which, if any, of the current hypotheses offered by archaeologists are best supported by the pattern of phenetic affinities possessed by the Oxus Civilization inhabitants of the north Bactrian oasis. Craniometric differences between samples are compared with Mahalanobis generalized distance, and patterns of phenetic affinity are assessed with two types of cluster analysis (WPGMA, neighbor-joining method), multidimensional scaling, and principal coordinates analysis. Results obtained by this analysis indicate that current hypotheses for both the origin and interregional impacts of Oxus Civilization populations are incomplete.

Horse‐mounted invaders from the Russo‐Kazakh steppe or agricultural colonists from western Central Asia? A craniometric investigation of the Bronze Age settlement of Xinjiang

“…Second, if Indo‐European‐speaking populations entered the Tarim Basin from Bactria, Bactrian populations should also show evidence of gene flow from the Indus Valley. None of the analyses presented here or in previous assessments (Hemphill, 1998, 1999; Hemphill et al, 1998) provide any evidence of significant interaction between Bactrian and Indus Valley populations prior to the latter half of the first millennium B.C. Finally, greater insight into the relationship between Indus Valley and Tarim Basin populations is provided by multidimensional scaling (Fig.…”

“…In this study, the degree of interobserver error between the authors and describers of comparative cranial series could be assessed for Tepe Hissar (Krogman, 1940), Harappa (Cemetery R37), Cemetery H at Harappa (Gupta et al, 1962), Altyn depe, and Geoksyur (Ginzberg and Trofimova, 1972; Trofimova, 1961; Kiiatkina, 1976, 1977, 1987). Repeated‐measures analysis of variance (Hemphill, 1998, 1999; Hemphill et al, 1991) indicated no significant measurement differences between different observers. Although the degree of interobserver error could not be directly assessed between the authors and samples obtained from Alekseev and Gochman (1983), these researchers incorporated measurements taken by Trofimova (1961) and Kiiatkina (1976, 1977, 1987) with those of Alexseev (1961, 1967) and Abdušelišvili (1954, 1960, 1966) and found no significant differences.…”

“…Although it is clear that these measurements actually provide assessment of an unknown combination of environmental and hereditary factors (Cavalli‐Sforza and Bodmer, 1971), and may be affected by masticatory mechanics (Carlson and Van Gerven, 1977; Van Gerven, 1982) and environmental variation (Beals, 1972; Guglielmino‐Matessi et al, 1979), twin studies (Clark, 1956; Lundstrom, 1954; Nakata et al, 1974a; Orczykowska‐Swiatkowska and Lebioda, 1975; Saunders et al, 1980), familial studies (Devor, 1987; Howells, 1966; Nakata et al, 1974b; Susanne, 1975, 1977), and worldwide comparisons of craniometric variation revealed a moderate degree of genetic control (Susanne, 1975, 1977), and demonstrated the utility of such variables for reconstructing patterns of biological interactions among populations (Howells, 1973, 1989). Since all of the samples included in this study derive from either sedentary, agricultural communities or pastoralist populations who received regular supplies of agricultural produce, and from sites that differ little in latitude, a comparison of craniometric variation should suffer no systemic biases due to differences in masticatory stresses or natural selection for dramatically different environments (Hemphill, 1998, 1999).…”

Biological affinities and adaptations of Bronze Age Bactrians: IV. A craniometric investigation of Bactrian origins

“…The results of this study corroborate and refine results obtained in an earlier study (Hemphill, 1998). That is, Oxus civilization populations of the north Bactrian oasis (2200-1500 BC) appear to be the product of a local population, whose ultimate origins remain unknown, that experienced gene flow from populations to the west.…”

“…Inclusion of samples from the Kopet Dagh foothill plain and from the Tedjen River delta in the current study permits a more fine-grained assessment of the origin of Oxus civilization populations than was possible in previous analyses (Hemphill, 1998;Hemphill et al, 1997Hemphill et al, , 1998. Since all of the samples included in this study derive from sedentary, agricultural communities and from sites that differ little in latitude, a comparison of craniometric variation should suffer no systemic biases due to differences in masticatory stresses or natural selection for dramatically different environments (see Hemphill, 1998).…”