Grigorev A.P. Long Limb Bones Asymmetry in the Ancient Population of the Volga-Ural Steppe (Neolithic – Middle Ages)
Artem P. Grigorev, Junior Researcher, Volga-Ural Center of Paleoanthropological Research, Samara State University of Social Sciences and Education, Maksima Gorkogo St, 65/67, 443099 Samara, Russian Federation
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Abstract. The work is devoted to the study of the phenomenon of directional bilateral asymmetry of long limb bones in the population of the Volga-Ural steppe on the basis of osteometric data from the Neolithic/Eneolithic, Early and Late Bronze, Early Iron Age, and the Middle Ages. The epoch of the Late Stone Age is represented by the materials from the Ust-Kama and Khvalynsk cultures. The Early Bronze Age series includes skeletons of the Yamnaya and Poltavka cultures and additionally includes materials from the Catacomb culture of the North-Western Caspian region. The materials of the Pokrovka and Srubnaya cultures made up a series of the Late Bronze Age. The Early Iron Age group is formed by the skeletons of the Early Sarmatian (Prokhorovka) culture. The medieval series is represented by the Bulgarian population who left the burial ground of Zhiguli I. Taking into account the existing developments in this field, the task was to identify asymmetric features in the samples under consideration and to identify the relationships between the direction of physical stress on the musculoskeletal system and the economic and cultural appearance of the population. The practical basis of the study is the method of comparing the variational series of measurements of the right and left sides of the skeleton by the nonparametric Wilcoxon criterion for dependent samples. Additionally, an analysis of the normality of the distribution of the measurement series was conducted, and the coefficients of excess and asymmetry of the distribution curve were calculated. As a result of the use of these statistical tools, the manifestations of directional asymmetry of the skeletal bones were demonstrated. A positive correlation was revealed between a high degree of mobility of the population and left-sided asymmetry of the lower extremities. The longitudinal dimensions of the humerus and femur in most of the studied groups are directionally asymmetric. With the demonstrated methodological approach, it is possible to identify a correlation between the degree of mobility of ancient population groups and the manifestation of mechanical stress on the elements of the postcranial skeleton. It is assumed that the degree of physical stress on the muscle groups of the lower extremities of the Khvalynsk and Yamnaya populations was different. In an earlier series, it was lower. It is assumed that there will be a gradual increase in physical activity on the female part of the population during the Bronze Age. The peak of the phenomenon is recorded in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages. The complex of asymmetry of the skeletons of the Bulgarian time is unique in its weak manifestation. This is probably due to the low degree of mobility of the population.
Key words: osteometry, postcranial skeleton, asymmetry, physical stress, Neolithic Age, Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, Middle Ages, Volga-Ural Region.
Citation. Grigorev A.P., 2025. Ob asimmetrii dlinnyh kostey konechnostey drevnego naseleniya stepnogo Volgo-Ural’ya (neolit – srednevekov’e) [Long Limb Bones Asymmetry in the Ancient Population of the Volga-Ural Steppe (Neolithic – Middle Ages)]. Nizhnevolzhskiy Arkheologicheskiy Vestnik [The Lower Volga Archaeological Bulletin], vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 32-69. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/nav.jvolsu.2025.1.2
Long Limb Bones Asymmetry in the Ancient Population of the Volga-Ural Steppe (Neolithic – Middle Ages)by Grigorev A.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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