Morphological features of Sarmatian population of the Lower Volga region according to the data of osteological analysis

The article discusses the history of studies on the anthropological and osteological material of the Early Iron Age Sarmatians of the Lower Volga region. The author investigates the 81 male and 70 female osteological samples of early Sarmatians from the Lower Volga region. The article contains the general characteristics of the sampling, the intra-group analysis, the description of physical types peculiar for Sarmatian men and women. The heterosexual groups of early Sarmatians of the Lower Volga region have the following characteristics: the absolute values of the transverse dimensions in men and women are characterized by overall avera ges, which indicate elongation. The longitudinal indicators in men and women are biased to larger values. Early Sarmatians are also characterized by local differences that are exemplified by the series from the Volga-Don interfluve and the Trans-Volga region. The intergroup analysis allows establishing the similarity between the studied samples and that of Southern Siberia. This fact proves the migrational conception of Sarmatians origin. Association of early Sarmatians of the Lower Volga region with a group of Tagantsev, as well as with middle and late Sarmatians of the Saratov Trans-volga region, is explainable as their partial genetic match can be observed through the craniological features.