Zubareva E.G. The History of Studying the Anthropological Composition of the Population of the Golden Horde

Abstract: The article focuses on the history of studying the anthropological material found on the territory of the Lower Volga region dating to the time of the Golden Horde. The historiography regarding the examination of the anthropological material collected on the territory of the Lower Volga is relatively scarce andfragmented. Unfortunately, none of the modern works on this subject are dedicated to the compilation of all the anthropological works, whose published conclusions concern the whole period of study of the Golden Horde. This article summarises and systematises various paleoanthropological works. In this study the systematic method of processing data was applied, which works with the method of logically analysing source material. This article reviews the history of study of yet another important source of anthropological material. The anthropological material from the towns of the Golden Horde in the Lower Volga region has been studied from the 1920s–1930s and is still studied today. From the whole body of examined material, the author comes to the conclusion that the population of the Golden Horde was not homogenous in its racial composition, but combined Mongoloid and Caucasian traits. The main population component was Caucasian-Mongoloid mestizos, with varying proportions of Caucasian and Mongoloid miscegenation, which has been identified as a local substrate. Along with the local component of the substrate on the territory of the Lower Volga region, there was also a component of alien population, which can be identified as Khorezm, Central Asian, and Russian. The Mongols in a relatively short period of time almost completely dissolved into the conquered tribes. Wherein two methods of miscegenation can be identified: mechanical and biological.

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