In the archeological relation, the Türkic Epoch of Kazakhstan is still poorly investigated, though plenty of monuments of that period have survived. They were constructed according to the current tradition of that time. The majority of kurgans are of medium size. They had earthen or stone embankments. But the burial ritual is not uniform, mostly the burials were made in pit grave, not infrequently in a wooden boxes, sometimes in a pit with a side chamber. Also is recorded cremation (Ageeva, Maksimova, 1959; Arslanova, 1964). In burial entombments were buried one or two diseased, the skeletons are extended in supine position, on the back, with head toward the west or northeast.

The burial inventory is presented by typical objects of arms and daily life. The composition of inventory depend on sex of the buried. So, in male burials were found iron knifes, iron and bone arrow tips. Female burials most often contained objects of daily life (iron knifes, awls), toiletry (iron scissors and mirrors), and ornaments (bracelets, earrings, and beads). Both in male and female burials very frequently are harness accessories, ceramics with simple or complex geometrical ornament, and wooden utensils with bones of domesticated animals.
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The archeological materials of the 6th - 11th centuries AD (Türkic time) continue the materials of the previous time. At the same time they have close analogies with the cultures of the synchronous tribes of Siberia, Altai, Lower Itil region and steppe area east of Itil (Tchernikov, 1962; Ageeva, Maksimova, 1959; Arslanova, 1964). This is confirmed by the anthropological data of 6th - 11th centuries AD (Türkic time).

The available data is sufficient to reconstruct the history of the racial composition of that period.

Most of the paleoanthropological material was found from S.Tchernikov excavations in Eastern Kazakhstan. The skulls found by him belong to the  Kimak Türks. A modest series of the 6th - 11th centuries AD (Türkic time) is also available from the Northern and Western Kazakhstan. These materials are described by V.V.Ginzburg (1958, 1960, 1963). He encountered different degrees of anthropological composition of the 6th - 11th centuries AD (Türkic time) population. So, the nomadic Türks of Eastern Kazakhstan had a bigger Caucasoid admixture than the nomadic Türks of Northern Kazakhstan. The last had a well expressed intermediate features of S. Siberian race, which in essence is a result of mixture of the early Türkic nomadic tribes with local inhabitants of Kazakhstan and Southern Siberia (Ginzburg, 1956, 1960, 1963).

Fig. 15 Location of kurgan burials that furnished paleoanthropological material of 6th - 11th centuries AD (Türkic time)

In summary, the male group is characterized by medium longitudinal and crosswise diameters, and by a mezocranial index. However, in a series alongside with dolicho- and mezocranial skulls are encountered skulls with strongly pronounced brachicranial type. In the female group craniums are exclusively brachicranial. The value of the height diameter is medium. The overall form of crania varies widely from ellipsoid to spheroid.

The forehead is of medium width, in inclination it approaches the upper limit of  medium slope; glabella is expressed moderately, supraorbital ridges  moderately developed.
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The facial skeleton of height and width, orthognatic, the degree of protrusion in a horizontal plane medium flat, fang socket moderately indented.

The nose is and moderately high, mezoric per the index. The nose bridge is moderately wide and sufficiently clearly protruding, that can be judged from simotic and dacryal heights. However, the protrusion of the nasal bones is on the border of small and medium sizes. The bottom part of the pear-shaped aperture is in most cases of antropic form. The orbits are moderately wide, by height they gravitate to low categories, the angles are mainly rounded.

The cited parameters tell about distinctiveness of the physical appearance of this group. In a number of attributes that differentiate between Mongoloid and Caucasoid groups, the investigated series occupy an intermediate position and is mixed from its origin. It finds very close analogies with the skulls of the modern Kazakhs. The morphological unity most of all is observed in the flatness of the facial skeleton, protrusion of the nose bridge and nasal bones to the face line, which values do not exceed the variation limits for typical representatives of S. Siberian type. The only attribute that separates considerably our series from the  S. Siberian type is the cranial index (mezocranial). But it also, most likely, descends from the anthropological features of the ancient Kazakhstan tribes which possessed mezokrania. The linear dimensions of the facial skeleton are a bit smaller than among S. Siberian groups, but nevertheless they are larger among the representatives of the Central Asian interfluvial race.

A visual observation of the skulls also displays a heterogeneity of the anthropological composition of Jeti-Su Türks. Among them are the skulls of both Caucasoid, and Mongoloid character. Individual skulls obviously express simultaneously the Caucasoid features and Mongoloid attributes. Among Caucasoid skulls the cranial index is mostly dolicho- or mezocranial, and among Mongoloid and mixed skulls basically the cranial index is mezocranial.

As a whole the mentioned anthropological features allow to rank Jeti-Su series as a transitive form, which morphologically resembles the S. Siberian type, but with significantly reduced cranial index.

A significant paleoanthropological material on Türkic tribes is from Pavlodar Irtysh area. Here in the 1960 -1961. F.Kh. Arslanov uncovered 37 skeletons  from five burials. All of them were in a fair state of preservation. The skulls from the burials near villages Trofimovka, Bobrovka and Pokrovka are dated 7th - 9th centuries AD, and the skeletons from burials at state farm Jdanovka and village. Leontievka are dated 10th-12th centuries AD. All these burials F.Kh. Arslanov (1964, 1968) considered as the monuments belonging to the Kimaks.

Individual sizes of the studied skulls from Pavlodar Irtysh area are listed in the Appendix (see Table. 3).
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During excavation of burials near villages Trofimovka, Bobrovka and Pokrovka were found 10 skeletons (4 male and 6 female). These numbers, certainly, are not sufficient  for a full representation about anthropological composition of the buried. However for a general concept average sizes for the group can be used, where the male series of skulls is characterized by high linear dimensions of the brain box, brachicranial type, relatively wide forehead, medium high and wide face skeleton, medium -profiled in a horizontal plane, moderately expressed nose bridge, weakly protruding nasal bones, wide and low eye-sockets.

The average sizes of female group (accounting for sexual distinctions) correspond with the males, but with some deviations. So, female face is higher; dacrial and symotic dimensions are well expressed, nose angle considerably higher.

Both male, and female groups by the majority of high taxonomic value attributes are at  a junction of Caucasoid and Mongoloid racial types. A typological observation of Irtysh skulls also points to intermediate character of morphological features of the buried. Generally, they have inherent  Caucasoid features, but with various degrees of admixture of Mongoloid elements (Ismagulov, 1969).

Another craniological series of the 10th - 12th centuries AD from Pavlodar Irtysh area is represented by 26 skulls (15 male, 10 female and one child). This series is mostly from a necropolis located at 3rd branch of Jdanov state farm, and partly from necropolis  near village Leontjevka. Averaged sizes of skulls with some measurements are listed in the Appendix (see Table. 4) (not sited here).

The male group have medium longitudinal and large crosswise diameters, hence, have a brachicranial index, relatively low hight of the crania, medium sloped and moderately wide forehead, high and very wide face medium -profiled in a horizontal plane, high value for the nose bridge, strongly protruding nose, medium high and relatively wide eye-sockets.
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The average sizes in female skulls mostly coincide with the male skulls (considering gender dimorphism), but in female group the face skeleton is flatter in a horizontal plane and nose less protruding (i.e., female faces are more doll-like and cute, but in Russian anthropological tradition females are found to be more Mongoloid than their brothers).

A series as a whole belongs to a great Caucasoid race, but at the same time the fang indentations are not deep, the face skeleton is relatively high and wide, and moderately flat in a horizontal plane, which indicates a Mongoloid admixture.

This obsevation is also confirmed by a typological analysis. So, it is easy to find representatives of two big races among the skulls: Caucasoid and Mongoloid. Most (16 skulls) belong to Caucasoid race, some from them remind softened Andronov-type skulls. Six skulls are judged to be Mongoloid, but even they are not totally homogeneous. First, among them we discerned brachicranial and mezocranial types. Two female skulls of the mixed type is difficult to attribute in greater detail. A female skull from a burial near village Leontievka also has mixed attributes.

It can be concluded that the population of the Pavlodar Irtysh area during Türkic time (6th - 11th centuries AD) included various components of Caucasoid and Mongoloid groups. In our opinion, the anthropological composition of the population of Kazakhstan was never so diverse as during 6th - 11th centuries AD (Türkic time).

One more small group of skulls (4 males and 1 female) from burial Shilikarym in the East Kazakhstan province, excavated by A.M.Orazbaev in 1958. Unfortunately, the dating of the skeletal material was not nearly exact, presumably it is 10th-12th centuries. This circumstance forces to describe each skull individually (see Appendix, Table 5) (not sited in this posting).

Kurgan 11. In additional burial in the pre-existing kurgan was a skeleton in extended position, head to the northwest. It belonged to a man of mature age. The brain box of medium size, with very low crania, and clearly expressed brachicranial type, of spheroid form, medium sloped and relatively wide forehead, medium developed nose bridge and browarches. The face skeleton is high and very wide, very flat in a horizontal plane, with strongly protruding cheekbones, a shallow fang indentation. A nose weakly protruding, with mezorinic index; the lower edge of the pear-shaped aperture is of antropinic form. The orbits are medium wide, of rectangular form. The lower jaw of medium size, wide, low, with protruding chin. The general shape of the skull is Mongoloid.
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[Follows a detailed description of individual kurgan necropolises and skulls]
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As a whole it turns out that in the extensive territory of Kazakhstan the mestization process of a local population was proceeding differently in time and territorially, which is demonstrated by the paleoanthropological materials listed in Tables 8-9. The data in the tables show that the Pavlodar Irtysh area skulls of 10-12 centuries we investigated still had predominantly the features of the Caucasoid race. This sole group differs from other local groups by a relatively high concentration of Caucasoid components. Similar Caucasoid features are also noted in a series of skulls from Eastern Kazakhstan (Ginzburg, 1956) and Jeti-Su (Ismagulov, 1968). The distinctions between them are insignificant and are boil down to more mixed features in the Jeti-Su series than in Eastern Kazakhstan. At the same time, greater similarities exist between the compared Türkic groups of southeast Kazakhstan than the distinctions. Generally, anthropological type of the population of the southeast part of Kazakhstan during that period the Caucasoid race prevailed above Mongoloid race.

Somewhat different anthropological picture is observed in the skulls from the Kustanai Tobol area (8th-10th centuries AD), studied by V.V.Ginzburg. These skulls have very high, wide and less profiled in a horizontal plane face, lower nose bridge, less protruding nose and less deep fang indentations. All these are an influence of Mongoloid types. Judging by the complex of attributes, the base of the Mongoloid component was Central Asian type. However, the ethnic mix of the local inhabitants apparently also included components of other anthropological types belonging to the Northern Asian races. Generally, in the morphological appearance  the population of Northern Kazakhstan, as a result of intensive amalgamation with Mongoloids lost its former Caucasoid substrate and formed a type of S. Siberian race. This circumstance allows to posit that separate ethnic groups in Kazakhstan during the 6th - 11th centuries AD (Türkic time) were identical in their physical appearance  with the modern Kazakhs.
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[Follow Tables 9 and 10]
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The change in time of the racial indicators between the Türkic nomads gradually increased the height and width of the skull among the inhabitants of the Irtysh area, reduced flatness in a horizontal plane, simultaneously increased the size of the nose bridge and the nasal bones protrusion angle. A similar anthropological phenomenon was detected in the racial type of the Eastern Kazakhstan population, but with a small deviation: their face skeleton became lower, and the nose angle became less protrusive. Generally, in the Late Türkic time (10th-11th centuries AD ?) the eastern groups in their composition had less Mongoloid elements, than the northern groups, which in the 8th-10th centuries AD had already considerably intermixed with the groups of the Asian origin. The impression is that since Türkic time (6th - 11th centuries AD ?) the mestization process was most intensive not in the southeast of the Kazakhstan, as was happening during the Sako-Üsün time, but in the northern part. The reasons for this phenomenon are not clear to us (but are much more clearer now, 30+ years later, due to extensive developments in Türkology).

From the analysis of local variations can be concluded that in a delineated territory of Kazakhstan the S. Siberian type was developing still during the 6th - 11th centuries AD (Türkic time). Hence, the Türkic tribes hugely influenced the formation of anthropological type in modern Kazakhs.

Interesting is the summary about the skulls of the 6th - 11th centuries AD (Türkic time), composed of 78 skulls (43 male and 35 female). The summary used data from V.V.Ginzburg's and the author's materials .

The summary averages of the male group characterize medium longitudinal and large crosswise diameters, corresponding to brachicranial index, relatively low crania, medium width of forehead, high and wide face skeleton, not large naso-mallar and medium zigo-maxyllar angles, above average depth of fang indentations, medium protrusion angle of nasal bones, mezorinic index, fairly wide and medium high eye-sockets. The female series of skulls has generally the same proportions, only their naso-mallar angle is five degrees larger than for males. Probably, this distinction is not connected with the race-genetic process.
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From the averages follows that the summary series of the 6th - 11th centuries AD (Türkic time) belonged to the morphological feature complexof the big Caucasoid race. But at the same time in a number of high taxonomic value attributes the skulls of that epoch occupy an intermediate position between the first order races. These attributes are the height size of a nose bridge, nasal bones protrusion degree, and flatness of the face skeleton. They gravitate to Caucasoid types.The attributes of the Mongoloid character most of all show up in the width and height of the face skeleton, the absolute size of which already during that period are within the limits of the variations of the modern Central Asian groups. Thus, the ratio of Caucasoid and Mongoloid elements in the anthropological composition of the Kazakhstan population during 6th - 11th centuries AD ("Türkic time") almost does not differ from the modern relationship, i.e. the racial type of that time was very close to the modern Kazakhs.

The anthropological material of the 6th - 11th centuries AD (Türkic time) has much in common with the series of the previous period. The contents of the Table 10 point to anthropological continuity of the tribes in the of  3rd c. BC - 4th c. AD (Üsün time) and 6th - 11th centuries AD (Türkic times). For comparison it lists the typical measurements for synchronous groups living in adjacent territories (Fig. 19).
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Fig. 19. Comparison of some series of male skulls of the 6th - 11th centuries AD (Türkic time) by preauricular facio-cerebral index and flatness index of facial skeleton

 

Anthropologically, the Kazakhstan population during 6th - 11th centuries AD epoch has a greatest similarity with the population of Altai, and mostly in its mountain part, and to a lesser degree in the foothills, because the foothill population has higher crania, mezocranial skull and less protruding face in a horizontal plane. In addition, in the compared groups the face skeleton combination of attributes, nose bridge sizes, and nasal bones are completely identical. Quite likely, that is the result of historical mutual influence (it was also genetically found that mountainous populations are more conservative in comparison with valley and foothill populations, because of their relative isolation from encroachment, invasions, and displacements).

The population of Kazakhstan in anthropological appearance finds not less important morphological similarity with the population of Kirgizia. But the population of Kirgizia is somewhat closer to the the great Mongoloid race. It shows in the small size of the nose bridge, less protruding nose angle, and less profiled face.

The same can be also said about the nomadic tribes from the Krasnoyarsk region (Alexeev, 1961). However, their cranium is higher, and the face skeleton is flatter, than among the nomadic Türks of Kazakhstan. The nomadic Türks of Kazakhstan differ from the nomads of the Minusinsk depression only by higher sizes of the nose bridge and more protruding nose, i.e. by Caucasoid elements.

The Caucasoid features of the skulls from Kazakhstan are especially visible in comparison with the skulls of the Transbaikalia Türks, who were rendered by N.N.Mamonova (1961) as Mongoloids without any trace of Caucasoid admixture. But nevertheless, between them is a morphological unity in the linear sizes of the face skeleton.
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We also compared the skulls of the 6th - 11th centuries AD (Türkic time) of Kazakhstan and the skulls from the nomadic burials of the  (Kalinovsky necropolis) and Sarkel (small kurgans), described by V.V.Ginzburg (1959) as Caucasoid, but with a Mongoloid admixture. It turned out that the skulls from Kazakhstan in all complex of attributes occupy an intermediate position between them, but in a number of attributes they are closer to the Sarkel nomads than to the east of Itil area nomads (for S.A.Pletneva's Early Middle Age archeology of Sarkel and N.Pontic click here).

Thus, the paleoanthropological material of 6th - 11th centuries AD (Türkic time) shows that the anthropological appearance of the Kazakhstan population in a number of cases was analogous with the population type of the Eurasian steppe belt. At the same time in the territory of Kazakhstan was ongoing a peculiar race-genetic process, which arrived at a morphological combination of attributes in essence identical with the S. Siberian type combination of attributes. In addition, to a certain extent between them solidified a relative uniformity, typical as a characteristic of this racial type. Therefore it can be posited that by the end of the 1st millennium of our era in the extensive Kazakhstan steppe existed ample anthropological opportunities for creation of the S. Siberian race, and hence, of the modern physical appearance of the Kazakhs.
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