Paleoanthropology of Saka Tribes of Alai in the Context of the Early Iron Age Populations of Adjacent Territories

The article attempts to generalize the paleoanthropological data of the Saka period from the territory of Alai (Kyrgyzstan), collected over a long period, and a significant part of these materials has been offered for scientific discussion. Comparison of the male and female groups shows their significant similarity, both in average values and in the level and direction of variability. The Alai skulls contain two morphological complexes of characters. One of them is a mesobrachicranial, low-faced Mongoloids with low orbits, a wide nose and alveolar prognathism, expressed mainly in women group. Another morphological complex is characterized by dolichocrania and has a pronounced Caucasoid character of the Mediterranean type, which has local origin. In this case the increase of the Caucasoid characteristics towards the Mediterranean anthropological type is probably associated with ethnogenetic contacts with the Saka of the Pamirs. An analysis of the anthropological materials of the Saka period from the Alai made it possible to obtain new data, clarify the most important milestones in the ethnogenetic history of the Saka of this region and outline their connections with synchronous populations of the Early Iron Age.