To the History of an Anthropological Collection of the Middle Ages from the Kostanay Tobol river region

Abstract

Among the little-studied topics in the science of Kazakhstan is the anthropology of the population of the Middle Ages. An important source for her research is an anthropological collection resulting from work in Kostanay Tobol. In 1955, the Kustanai archaeological expedition led by G.I. Patsevich excavated several mounds, which were part of such burial grounds as Kursky, Zhilken, Yeginshi, Zhilashi, Batalinsky. G.I. Patsevich designated them as early Muslim, but determined their dating as follows – VII–VIII centuries, VII–VIII/XIV centuries. As a result of inaccurate dating, the collection was assigned to Turkic time and used by anthropologists as a source on the ethnic history of this particular chronological period. So, O.I. Ismagulov concluded that the medieval population of Northern Kazakhstan had an anthropological appearance similar to modern Kazakhs. As a result of studying the scientific report of the Kustanai archaeological expedition, the following features of the funeral rite were revealed - the absence of things, western orientation. On their basis, these burials date back to the late Middle Ages, and not to Turkic time. Thus, the anthropological collection from Kostanay Prytobol is an important source of information about another chronological period.